Finding the Answer
by claudepeppers2
Summary: The war has ended; the world is safe. But when the children of Harry and their cousins go to school, they discover a new mysterious force that seems to be acting in secret. But the new generation of children are ready to find the answer to everything.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is the sequel to Eternal Glory, but you can still understand it without reading the first one. Please enjoy!  
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><p>"Hey, Lily, is there any mail for me today?"<p>

Twelve-year-old Lily Potter looked up from her book to see her eldest brother walk into the house. He slammed the door behind him, dropping his bag on the floor. "Oh, hi James," Lily said. "Yeah, we all got letters today from Hogwarts. And you got two others, from some of your friends, I think."

James nodded. He walked toward the kitchen and peered into the cabinet for something to eat. He decided on treacle tart, his favorite.

"You know, we're eating dinner in twenty minutes," Lily said from under her book.

"Well, I'm hungry," James replied, walking back toward the entrance. "Besides, today was busy."

"Really?" Lily asked. "What'd you do?"

"Three old ladies came and demanded for three cakes," James replied. "And every time we made it, they would pick out something wrong. We had five extra cakes by the end that were _incorrectly made._"

"Huh."

"I wish I could do magic," James said. "But there were people all around me, so I couldn't. Otherwise I would have been able to just remove the frosting instead of baking a whole new cake."

During the summer, James had decided to work at a bakery in a nearby muggle town. Every Tuesday and Thursday, he would apparate to the place and work for about eight hours. James's parents had said that he should experience some real work for himself. And it would give him extra money, not that he needed any.

Last year, the Triwizard Tournament was hosted at Beauxbatons Academy. James had been chosen as the Hogwarts champion, and, in the end, he had come to a tie for first place with Durmstrang champion Anton Rosencrantz. James had only taken 100 galleons of the 1000 galleons of prize money, though, and he had donated it all to the research center at St. Mungo's. Nevertheless, his family still was pretty rich because of his father's job, Head Auror at the Ministry.

"So where's the letter?" James asked Lily.

Lily pointed up. James assumed she meant upstairs, so he walked up. "You could just summon it!" Lily shouted from downstairs.

James ignored her. It was true, he could summon the letter, but he still wasn't used to being able to use magic out of school. Just three days ago, James had turned seventeen and became of age. He'd had a huge party with his family and friends, and his parents had given him a watch. It was still in its original container in his room, though; it had looked too precious to wear.

"Hi Dad," James said as he passed his father's study. His father didn't reply. He never did whenever he was working on something serious, so James didn't bother to repeat his greeting. He walked past his brother's room and toward his own.

There were three letters in front of the door, obviously left there by Lily. James picked them up and opened them as he walked into his room. His bed was on the far side of the room, and his desk was opposite it, with a nice view of the outside. James sat on his bed while examining the first letter. It was a welcome back letter to Hogwarts, with all the typical book requirements.

He put that down and opened the second envelope. It was addressed to him in small and messy script. When James opened the letter, he smoothed the paper and read:

_Dear James,_

_ Happy seventeenth! I know this is kind of late, but I never got the chance to write. I'm really sorry that I couldn't make it to your birthday celebration, but I've been so busy here in Greece. These Greek wizards are really annoying; everything they talk about is either food or Turkish people. It's frustrating._

_ Anyway, tomorrow I'm taking a day off from working at the museum and going to the islands! It's going to be so much fun. We're going to Crete and Santorini, and a bunch of other islands too. Dimitri says that the wizards on Santorini are the nicest people you'll ever meet. I hope he's right; I'm in need of nice people right now. _

_ I wasn't sure what to give you for your birthday, but I hope you like this. I think it fits both sides of your personality, if you get what I mean. You've always been the prankster ever since first year, but last year you started getting a little more serious and wanting to be in charge. So this present will fit._

_ Happy seventeenth one last time. See you on the Hogwarts Express._

_ Sincerely,_

_ Oliver Brown_

James smiled to himself at the letter. Oliver and Fred Weasley II were James's best friends ever since his first year of Hogwarts. James looked around for Oliver's present. He didn't see any package nearby. "Lily!" James shouted, walking toward the hallway. "Was there a package?"

"No!" Lily shouted back from downstairs.

James looked back in his envelope to see if he'd missed anything. Then he discovered another piece of paper in it. He pulled it out and squinted at the miniscule handwriting. _I wasn't sure what to get you for your birthday, but I think this will do. I can't exactly give the present to you, but I can tell you what it is. You get 1 free chance to talk to the head of your favorite Quidditch Team. AND you get a chance to go on a guided tour of the bottom floor of the Ministry of Magic, the Department of Mysteries._

James stared at the paper in shock. The first part made sense - it wasn't too hard to get an appointment. But the Department of Mysterious… nobody ever was allowed! James read the paper again, and discovered something he had missed before. _But you have to give an oath to promise not to tell anyone about it._

That made more sense. Oliver was a really strange person, giving him a present like that. The rest of his family had just given him candy or items to use. Shrugging, James put it aside; he would reply later. He opened the second letter. James was expecting this one, as he communicated with this person every week.

_James_

_ Tomorrow's the interview. I'm so nervous right now; I don't know where I'll go if I fail. I took all your advice, though. My mother and I went to the best store in town for a suit and tie—it was ridiculously expensive, but I hope it'll cause me to look more presentable. Thanks for all your suggestions._

_ Your story about the bunny was so funny! I wish there were bunnies in Norway; unfortunately, bunnies don't like snow. _

_ So onto more serious stuff… Yesterday an article came out in our Daily Newspaper about this kidnapping. There were two children in a nearby town that went out to play and never came home. The mother said that they had no enemies; they were only five. But it's already been three days and no signs of them have been reported. And stranger enough is that there have been more stories of missing children recently. Children always go missing, but it's been really high this summer._

_ I thought you would be interested in that because of last year. You had your own experience with kidnapping._

_You're so lucky you get to go back to school. I wish I could… this world seems so big. Still nervous about the interview._

_ Anyway, reply soon!_

_ Anton Rosencrantz_

James frowned. The missing children sounded suspicious. As Anton had written, he had had an experience with kidnapping. Last year, Monsieur Guillory, a wandmaker, had kidnapped James and held him in a room for his wand. However, James had managed to eventually escape. He still did not know why Guillory did such a thing, though.

James wondered if the story about the missing children was anything big. "Dad," James called as he walked down the hall. "Have you heard anything about missing children?"

His father didn't reply, but James felt it was urgent, so he entered his office. "Dad," James repeated again.

"Yes?" Harry asked, but didn't turn around.

"Apparently lots of children have gone missing in Norway," James said. "Do you know anything about this?"

Harry immediately turned around in his seat. "What?"

James told him about what Rosencrantz had written. Harry remained in his seat, staring into space. After a few minutes, he said, "I have to tell this to the Ministry."

"Wait, what?" James asked, thoroughly confused now.

"You'll find out in the Daily Prophet tomorrow," Harry replied, turning back toward his desk and taking out a fresh sheet of parchment. "I don't have time right now."

James sighed and walked back downstairs. His father could be quite annoying at times like this.

* * *

><p>"I'll go first," Rose volunteered. She took a handful of the powder and threw it into the fireplace. The flames turned bright green, and she stepped inside. "Diagon Alley!"<p>

There was a whoosh and Rose was swept through the network of chimneys until she arrived at Flourish and Blotts, where the chimney was located. She stood up, brushed the soot off, and picked up a nearby book to start reading.

Within five minutes, the rest of Rose's family had arrived. Rose was absorbed in her book and didn't notice Hugo approaching behind her. He poked her older sister hard in the back.

"Ouch! Hugo!" Rose said, rubbing her back. "You don't need to do that."

Hugo, Rose's 12-year-old younger brother, just grinned. "Come on, Rose, we're leaving this store. We always get our books last."

Hugo didn't wait for Rose but ran off. Rose sighed and put the book back on the shelf but followed her family out of the store. As she walked toward the exit, she bumped into someone she didn't expect to see.

"Scorpius!" Rose said, excited at seeing one of her best friends. Although he was a Malfoy, Scorpius had ended up in Gryffindor with Rose and Albus. "I didn't know you were coming today. I thought your parents didn't let you."

Scorpius turned around. "Hey, Rose. How's your summer been?"

"Good," Rose replied. "So what happened at home? Did your dad lock your in your room or what?"

Scorpius peered around and spoke in a low voice. "Look, Rose, I'm sorry, but I can't talk right now. My dad left to go talk to the owner of the store for a minute, but he might come back any minute. He said he doesn't want me to talk to any of your family. I had to _beg _him to allow me to come to Diagon Alley."

"I understand," Rose replied. "So, see you in a week on the Hogwarts Express?"

Scorpius nodded. "See you."

Rose gave her friend a smile and walked toward the exit of Flourish and Blotts. Hugo and her mother and father were standing there talking to a few other people.

Hugo saw her and walked over to her. "What were you doing in there?"

"I just saw Scorpius," Rose replied. "I was just saying hi."

Hugo shook his head and turned back toward his parents. The two of them were talking to two other adults. Rose recognized them to be Percy and Audrey Weasley.

Audrey saw Rose and gave her a smile. "Hi, Rose. How was your summer?"

"It was nice, thanks for asking," Rose replied. "Where are Molly and Lucy?"

"They both went to find their friends," Audrey answered. "I think Lucy went to Weasley Wizard Wheezes, and Molly to the Apothecary."

"Thanks, Aunt Audrey," Rose said. She turned to her mother. "Mum, can I go find Lucy? Please? I know where she is." Lucy was a year older than Rose, but they were still good friends.

Hermione looked hesitant.

"Aw, just let her go," Ron said. "Diagon Alley is perfectly safe today, and she's already fourteen. There's no point of making her stay with us."

"Thanks dad," Rose said, and gave her father a hug. "Meet you back here in two hours?"

He nodded. Rose started walking down the street when she saw that Hugo was following her. "What are you doing?" Rose asked.

"Mum said that I had to stay with you," Hugo replied. "Besides, I want to see if there are any new products in the joke shop."

"Fine, then, but walk faster."

The two siblings turned a corner and walked down the street until they got to Weasley's Whizard Wheezes. Rose pushed open the door and was immediately greeted with sounds of talking and laughing. Music was playing in the background.

"Whoa! New skiving snackboxes!" Hugo said, and ran off in the direction of the sweets. Rose went in a different direction, toward the back of the shop where Uncle George worked. She saw a door that said, "Employees Only," but she pushed it open anyway. A woman wearing magenta robes was standing by the door, waving her wand at a small object.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded. "Don't you know it's employees only?"

"I'm… I'm just looking for my uncle," Rose replied. "George. I'm his niece."

The woman didn't look like she believed Rose, but she was saved when Fred came from the back of the room. "Sorry, Rose," he said. To the woman, he said, "She's allowed to be in here."

"Hmph," the woman replied, but went back to work.

"Come on," Fred said, walking out of the employees room and back toward the main store. "Sorry about Ursa. She's always been annoying."

"Oh," Rose said. During the summer, Fred had always helped his father run the joke shop. Previously, he just helped customers around, but now, since he was in his seventh year of Hogwarts and of age, he helped make products too. "So, are there any new products you think I might like?"

"Yeah, I'll show you," Fred replied, walking toward the Dark Arts section. They passed a group of witches whispering loudly to each other and pointing to something bubbling in a pot.

"New love potions?" Rose asked.

Fred nodded. "Yep. We developed them so they would be stronger."

"Wonderful," Rose said sarcastically.

They finally got to the Dark Arts section, which was empty compared to the rest of the store, except for two people standing in the corner of the room. "Lucy!" Rose said.

Rose's cousin turned around. "Hey, Rose," she replied. "How are you?"

"I'm good," Rose answered. "And you? And… Lysander?"

The person next to Lucy spoke up. "I'm good too. And you'll never believe what happened!"

"What?" Rose asked.

"I was made a prefect," Lysander replied. "And so was Lucy."

"No way," Rose said. Lysander was one of the worst troublemakers in fifth year. "I thought it would definitely be Lorcan." She referred to Lysander's twin.

Lysander shrugged. "I dunno. But anyway, I'm glad I'm a prefect. Now I get to help first years!"

Lucy and Rose exchanged glances. "I don't know what in the world made McGonagall do that," Lucy told Rose. "But I admit it'll be more fun doing prefect duties with him than Lorcan."

Fred cleared his throat. "Do you want to see the new products or not?"

"Oh yeah, sorry Fred," Rose apologized to her older cousin. "So what is it?"

"This," Fred replied, walking over to a shelf and picking up an object that looked like a wand, except it had a small button on the end of it. "They're called Expelliarmus Wands. They look like normal wands, but they can't do all the functions that normal wands can do. But, if you press this button on the end of the wand…" Fred pressed the button to demonstrate, and Rose felt her wand fly out of her pocket toward Fred.

"Give that back!" Rose said as Fred caught the wand.

Fred grinned but tossed the wand back toward Rose. "So, these wands basically just take the wand of the person you're pointing to away from them. We thought they'd be handy in case you ever lose a wand and need one. Though, I'd advise you not to use it all the time and steal peoples' wands."

"Yeah, that would be bad," Rose replied. "But do you know what these remind me of? Magnets. They're muggle things that attract other things of the same material."

Fred nodded. "That's where one of our employees got the idea. All wands are made of wood, so we just made a fake wand out of all different kinds of wood and did some spells."

"So how much is it?" Rose asked.

"You can have it free," Fred replied. "We just made it a few days ago, so we need to spread the word."

"Wow, thanks Fred," Rose said, picking up an Expelliarmus Wand from the shelf. "This is a really good Defence object."

"I knew you'd like it," Fred said. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "Do you want to see a new Defence tool? You can't tell anyone else about it; it's top secret. I'm only telling you because I think you'd enjoy seeing it."

Rose nodded eagerly. "Where is it?"

"It's in the back room," Fred replied. "It's still in development. In a few weeks, it'll be ready for sale, but not to everyone. We'll only sell it too some Aurors or other people we trust."

Rose followed Fred toward another Employee office. George Weasley was sitting in a chair, bent over, examining something. "Hi Uncle George," Rose said as she entered the room.

George looked up questioningly at Fred. "I just want to show her the tool," he replied. "Is it okay? I know she wouldn't tell anyone."

George nodded. "Just make her promise."

"What is it?" Rose asked again, but Fred just motioned for her to come. He led her toward the back of the room and picked up a box in the left corner. There were some dials on the outside, and Fred rotated them to form a certain series of numbers. Then he flipped open the lid. Inside were two small circular objects.

"Accio tweezers," Fred said, and a pair of tweezers flew out from one of the other boxes. Fred held the tweezers and carefully picked up one of the circles with it. He held it up to his face and showed Rose. "Don't touch it."

Rose nodded, and looked at it carefully. It looked like a normal black button. "What does it do?"

"If it touches somebody's skin," Fred replied, "They start feeling a searing pain. It doesn't actually make an imprint in their skin but they still feel pain."

Rose looked at Fred in horror. "Isn't that illegal?" she asked. "That's like the Cruciatus Curse, only it's in object form."

Fred grimaced. "Well, not really. It doesn't cause that much pain. It's more like just an itch."

"Is it really?" Rose asked. "So I can touch it right now and I wouldn't feel too much pain?"

Fred pulled the tweezers away from Rose in the opposite direction. "Of course not," he said. "We're still developing it right now. We don't know how it works right now. It might be, er, permanent right now. That's why its top secret."

Rose still looked angry. "So, does it cause pain or merely an itch?"

"We want it to be more on the pain side but not as bad as the Cruciatus curse."

Rose shook her head. "That's sick. Why would you want people to experience pain?"

"For a good cause!" Fred replied. "They're like knives; they look like they're bad but can be used to protect yourself. Besides, we're thinking of starting a new chain called wandless magic. It's going to have objects that let you use magic without wands, so you can protect yourself if you're ever in danger."

"That sounds crazy to me," Rose said. "I thought this was supposed to be a joke shop, not a shop full of the dark arts. And wandless magic sounds like you're becoming a muggle. I'm leaving. Hugo's going to get lost without me."

"Don't tell anyone!" Fred insisted. "Please! When these objects get developed, you'll understand. They're not meant to cause harm; they're meant to help."

"Isn't that what everybody thinks?" Rose asked, walking toward the door. She didn't understand what Fred was thinking. The idea sounded revolting.

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><p><strong>I know there are already 2 conflicts right now, but they're small ones and aren't too important... so this story isn't going to be too confusing and conflicting. And sorry for portraying Greek people as talking only about food... that's not how I think of them; it's just stereotypical. I didn't mean to offend anyone. Oh, and for all the people who read Eternal Glory, I promise the characters will eventually discover what Guillory and Draco did... just not yet.<br>**

**So please review? I'll try to update in a week, but if I get more reviews I'll update faster!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Wow, thank you all for the reviews! I fixed the whole confusion with the word 'wand' and 'magic' (thanks FatallyUnique!) and I read the other reviews... thanks to everyone who read or reviewed! Now enjoy this chapter!**

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><p>The Burrow was filled to the brim. It was 8:00 pm, the evening before Hogwarts; dinner had just been eaten. This year, the children had begged their parents to spend the night at the Burrow, and Grandma Molly and Grandpa Arthur, the permanent residents of the Burrow, said they would be delighted.<p>

Aunt Fleur was helping Grandma Molly wash the dishes in the kitchen. Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny were still sitting by the dinner table, talking to each other about work or current events. The rest of the family was sitting in the living room: Hugo and Louis were playing Wizards' Chess, even though Louis was losing by a lot; Lily was next to them, watching; Lorcan and Lucy were both reading books; Aunt Audrey—Lucy's mother, Aunt Luna—Lorcan's mother, and Aunt Angelina—Fred's mother, were talking; Lysander was sitting on a chair finishing up his summer homework; Rolf Scamander—Lorcan and Lysander's father—George, Bill, and Percy were also conversing together; Fred and James were waving their wands and making things fly away from the other kids, much to the annoyance of the rest of the family; Rose and Albus were whispering things to each other in the corner of the room, occasionally taking glances at Fred and James; Teddy and Victoire had disappeared upstairs, probably to go snogging or something like that; and Dominique, Roxanne, and Molly II were simply sitting on the couch and relaxing.

"Today's the last day of rest before another busy year," Roxanne said, yawning. "I wish we didn't have to go to school."

"How could you say that?" Molly asked. "School is so much fun! True, it's a lot of work, but we get to see all our other friends and learn stuff."

Roxanne shrugged. "That's true… Not the learning part, but the seeing our friends part."

"You know, you should really start packing," Dominique told Roxanne. "Molly and I both packed; your stuff is still on the bed."

"You sound like Mum," Roxanne replied, sliding further down in the couch.

"No, but honestly, you should," Dominique said. "You're the slowest one here."

Roxanne sighed but stood up. "Alright, I'll go pack. Are you coming too?"

"I might as well," Dominique said. "I have nothing else to do except watch Louis fail miserably at Wizard's Chess."

Dominique and Molly followed Roxanne up the steps toward the room that the three of them shared. They passed the bathroom, where some giggling was coming from. "Gross," Molly said as she walked past the bathroom. "Let's walk faster."

They reached the third floor and entered Percy's old room. The floor was strewn with all sorts of things; books, articles of clothing, etc. "This is giving me a headache," Dominique said, looking at the floor. "And it's mainly all your stuff, Roxanne."

"I feel like a Muggle," Roxanne replied, kneeling onto the floor and picking up some books and putting them into a suitcase.

"Be glad you won't have to be a Muggle in half a year," Dominique said. "Then you'll be of age and able to do magic whenever you want."

"Yeah, well, there are still eight more months to go," Roxanne answered. "So why don't you two help me pack instead of just standing there?"

"Fine," Dominique said, and bent down to help Roxanne pack her stuff. The three girls quickly managed to clear the entire floor and put all that stuff in Roxanne's suitcase instead.

"Wow, that was good," Roxanne commented, standing up and observing the floor. "Everything's perfectly clean. Now let's go back downstairs." Before Molly or Dominique could reply, she had already left the room.

Dominique and Molly exchanged looks but followed Roxanne back down the stairs. There was shouting and loud voices coming from the living room.

"What's going on?" Dominique asked when she got to the bottom level. Roxanne, standing in front of her, shrugged.

"Louis lost his diary!" Hugo shouted back. "And now we're all trying to help him find it because the adults aren't helping us by just summoning it."

"You have a diary?" Roxanne asked in shock.

"It's a journal!" Louis called back, currently looking through the crack between the cushions in the armchair. "I just write about things that seem interesting in life."

Dominique laughed. "Louis is just strange like that," she said, referring to her little brother.

"James and Fred are so mean," Molly said. "They're just standing there with smiles on their faces like they know where Louis's journal is all along. And they won't help summon it."

"Oh, I know that face," Roxanne said. "Fred! Give Louis back his journal right now!"

"I don't have it," Fred said in an innocent voice, but Roxanne gave her older brother a glare. Fred faltered under it. "Okay, fine." He took out the journal but flipped it open to a random page and began reading. "Whoa, Louis. I didn't know you were ever in love with anyone."

"Give that back!" Louis said, running over to Fred. "That's private."

"I thought you said it wasn't a diary," Fred replied, but tossed the journal toward Louis. "But anyway, next time, don't leave it lying around the house. It was literally lying right next to me; how could I resist?"

Dominique shook her head as Hugo and Lily confronted Louis with whispers of 'You _love _somebody?' "They're so young and innocent," Dominique said, watching the two of them.

Roxanne snorted. "I still can't believe your brother has a _diary._ And that'd he write something like that."

"I told you, Louis is just… Louis," Dominique replied. "That's just the way he is."

* * *

><p>"Where's the prefect's compartment?"<p>

"Near the front," Lucy replied, pushing her way through the crowded corridor to get toward the front of the train. As usual, the whole Weasley family had waited until the last minute to get onto the train, and the corridor was filled with people.

"Excuse me," Lucy said to a seventh year, who moved aside to let her pass. She reached the first compartment that was the one reserved for the prefects. Lysander quickly walked up too and slid the compartment door open.

Inside, three people sat, looking awkward. "Is this the prefect's compartment?" Lucy asked.

The oldest girl nodded. "Yes. I'm Maeve Robinson, the Head Girl."

"I'm Lucy Weasley," Lucy said.

"Lysander Scamander."

"Nice to meet you," Maeve said, smiling at the two fifth-years. Lucy smiled back and took a seat next to Jessica Lewis, a fellow fifth-year in Hufflepuff. Lysander took a seat across from Lucy, next to Andrew Young.

"Hey Lucy," Jessica said. "How was your summer?"

"It was good," Lucy replied. "How was yours?"

They talked about their summers for a couple of minutes until the rest of the prefects walked in. They all seemed to have the same reaction Lucy had when she had discovered that Lysander was prefect.

"_You're _a prefect?" Daniel Thoreau, a Slytherin, asked as he walked in and spotted Lysander sitting there.

Lysander shrugged. "I was surprised too."

"Is everyone here?" Maeve asked, looking around the compartment. They all nodded. "Alright. So, basically the duties of the prefects are to patrol the hallways every night. You take shifts, of course, but it's always in pairs. At first, we'll try to pair you with older students so you get to know them better, but later on you can chose your own pairs."

"So we patrol once a week?" Andrew asked.

Maeve nodded. "About that often. In addition, you have the responsibility of making sure that all the students behave. You have a lot of power, such as docking points, but you need to make sure you don't abuse your power. If we discover you're abusing it, we may take away your privilege. Also, when we arrive at school in a few hours, you all need to take turns helping the first years of your house to the common room."

"Is everyone clear?'

They all nodded.

"Can you all say your names, so I can get to know you?"

For about ten more minutes, Maeve told them a bit more about being prefects and their duties. "Stay here for a second," she said, and got up and left the compartment.

"So," Daniel said. "Prefect duty is going to be busy."

"Yeah, but it's worth it," Angela, another Slytherin, replied. "We'll get so much power."

"And we get to use the prefect's bathroom," Jessica added.

"How are we supposed to divide when we use the bathroom?" Lucy asked. "It's not like we can all use it at once."

"Why not?" Lysander said innocently. All the girls glared at him.

"You devise a schedule after some time," Maeve said, walking into the compartment again, this time with somebody else. "Everyone, this is Oliver Brown, the Head Boy. If you ever have questions, you can ask him or me. You could even ask the sixth year prefects if you want."

"Hi," Oliver said, staring around the compartment.

"Hi Oliver," Lucy said. Oliver was her cousin James's best friend, and he often showed up during holidays at the burrow. He smiled at Lucy.

"If you don't have any questions, you can go," Maeve told the prefects. "Just remember to help the first-years after the feast."

Lucy stood up and followed the two head-people out of the compartment. "Let's go find Louis and Lorcan," Lysander said as they walked down the corridor while the other prefects went their separate ways. During school, Lucy didn't spend much time with the people from other houses; she mainly talked with the Scamander twins and Louis, fellow Gryffindor fifth-years.

"Where are they?" Lucy wondered, walking down the corridor and peering into every compartment. She reached the end of the train, still without seeing a sign of the other two.

Lysander shook his head. "I dunno. You think they missed the train?"

"Maybe we just missed them or something," Lucy replied. "Well, let's just sit with… how about Rose and Albus?" She pointed to a compartment right in front of them.

"Sure," Lysander agreed. They walked toward that compartment and opened the door.

"We can use the Room of Requirement, like Dad did," Rose was saying. She stopped, seeing the door open.

"Mind if we sit here?" Lucy asked. "Our prefect meeting just ended and all the compartments are really crowded… and we couldn't find Louis or Lorcan."

"It's fine," Rose replied. "We have a lot of space anyway."

"Thanks," Lucy said, sitting down next to Rose. Lysander sat down across from her, next to Albus. Scorpius Malfoy was sitting on Albus's other side.

"So, what were you talking about?" Lucy asked Rose. "Something about the Room of Requirement?"

"Yeah," Rose replied. "Albus had this idea at the end of last year; he wanted to start learning new spells on his own for fun. I thought that would be a really cool idea. It'd be sort of like Dumbledore's Army, when Dad was around, but it would be totally legal."

"That sounds cool," Lucy commented. "But you'd need some older people to teach you, wouldn't you?"

"Well, we were planning to teach ourselves…" Albus explained. "But I guess we could get more people to join, such as James or Fred."

"I'll help, if I'm not busy," Lucy answered. "It sounds fun."

Rose's eyes lit up. "So you'll help?"

Lucy nodded. "Sure."

"Yes!" she shouted. She turned to Scorpius. "Do you want to help me find James and the rest of my family and tell them about this?"

Scorpius looked hesitant. "I don't know… maybe Albus should go instead. I don't really know your family that well."

"If you really want…" Rose replied. She and Albus left the compartment, leaving Lucy, Lysander, and Scorpius awkwardly sitting together.

"So…" Lysander said, attempting to make conversation. "How was your summer?" he directed it to Scorpius.

"Fine," he responded.

There was silence again. Lucy and Lysander could usually talk on and on for a long time, but Lucy couldn't find anything to say when Scorpius was around. Instead, she dug into her trunk and pulled out a book to read. She tuned out the awkward conversation to read.

She read a couple of pages but was interrupted when the door opened again and Rose reappeared, Albus behind her. Her red hair was in frizzles around her face, and she slammed the compartment door closed as she walked inside.

"What happened?" Scorpius asked.

"Fred!" Rose said angrily. "Honestly, he's the most annoying person in the world."

"What'd he do this time?"

Rose just shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

* * *

><p>The Hogwarts Express rolled towards a stop and the doors to the outside sprung open. The corridors began to crowd again as all the students left their compartments to reach the outside.<p>

Lily moved with the flow to get toward the nearest exit. Unlike last year, there were some people smaller than her, but most of the population was still taller and bigger than her. There was no way she would manage to push through like some of the seventh years were doing.

Finally, the crowd flowed down the steps and out into the night sky. Lily took a deep breath; the air tasted clean and relaxing. The Hogwarts Castle shimmered in the night sky a few kilometers away, with yellow windows illuminating the rest of the area surrounding it. Nearby, the Great Lake reflected the full moon.

"Where do we go?" Lily asked Layla Longbottom, Neville's daughter and her best friend. Layla pointed toward the row of carriages up ahead.

Hugo opened one compartment and got in. Lily and Layla followed. Lily heard the sound of running footsteps and a cry of "Wait!" as she was about to close the door. She opened the door wide again to see Elena Mills, another Gryffindor second year, running towards the carriage. "Can I sit with you? I was sitting with Olivia—" she referred to another Gryffindor second year "—but she disappeared."

"Of course, sure," Lily said, allowing Elena to climb into the carriage. A few seconds later, more footsteps came up and Olivia Gould came running toward the carriage too.

"Sorry, Olivia," Elena quickly apologized. "I didn't mean to desert you."

"It's fine," Olivia said.

Hugo groaned. "I think I'll just leave right now," he said. "There are too many girls."

"Have fun, Hugo," Lily said jokingly as Hugo left the carriage. A few minutes later, the carriages started moving toward the castle.

"You know what pull the carriages?" Olivia asked.

Lily nodded. "Yeah, thestrals."

"What?" Elena asked. "What're thestrals?"

"They're basically horse-like creatures with wings," Lily replied. "The only difference is that you can't see them unless you've seen somebody die."

"Do they really exist?" Elena wondered, looking out the window. The line of carriages was moving along as if nothing was pulling them.

"Well," Layla replied. "If you ever see somebody die, which hopefully you won't, you'll know. My father can see them, so I know they're real. He wouldn't lie."

In a couple of minutes the invisible thestrals pulled the carriages up to the castle, and all the students disembarked. They all piled into the great hall, which was filled with candles, and enchanted to look like the outside sky. The four second-year girls found a spot at the Gryffindor Table, near the front. It was the first time Lily ever would see a sorting (that she didn't participate in); it seemed exciting.

After everyone was settled, the door to the great hall opened and Professor Anderson, the Transfiguration professor, led a row of first-years down the hall toward the front of the room. They all stood there with wide eyes, some nervous, some excited.

"They look smaller than we did last year," Lily whispered to Layla. Layla nodded in agreement.

"When I call your name," Professor Anderson said, "Please step forward and try on the Sorting Hat.

"Adams, Rebecca!"

A girl made her way out of the group of first-years and quickly walked toward the hat and pulled it on. The old hat covered her eyes as it whispered some inaudible dialogue to the girl. After a few seconds, the hat screamed "Slytherin!" and the girl took it off, running to the Slytherin table.

Lily watched her sit down next to some older people in the Slytherin table. Nowadays, Slytherin wasn't as bad as it had been before, but the people in it were still ambitious. She bet Rebecca Adams would have a good time.

The roll call continued, as more people tried on the sorting hat. Soon, the crowd of first-years was halfway gone.

"My sister should be up next!" Elena whispered to Lily from across the table. "I hope she's in Gryffindor."

As Professor Anderson called "Mills, Emily!", a small blonde girl made her way up toward the hat. She looked really nervous as she tried it on.

"Did you not tell her about the hat?" Lily asked Elena.

"I did, but she didn't believe me," Elena replied. "I don't think she understands this whole magic aspect of the world." Elena was a muggle-born, so her family didn't know much about wizards and witches.

After a few minutes, the hat opened its brim and shouted "Gryffindor!"

"Yes!" Elena shouted, as she and the rest of the Gryffindor table applauded. Elena moved down the bench to give room for her younger sister, but Emily shook her head, walking past Lily and her friends toward some first-years.

Soon, the last first-year was sorted and the feast begun. The tables were filled with all sorts of food, and Lily happily filled her stomach until it was contented. The girls began talking about how their summers were, but they were interrupted when the headmistress McGonagall stood up. Immediately, the whole hall quieted.

"Welcome back!" Professor McGonagall said. "I hope you have all enjoyed your summers. Hopefully you haven't forgotten too much information."

Lily and Layla exchanged smiles; they hadn't done much work during the summer, choosing to play with each other instead. Some of her other cousins, like Rose or Lucy, had actually gotten a lot of work done.

"All the professors from last year are still here this year," McGonagall continued. "However, we have received an application from Matthew Watson, applying to be History of Magic Professor. We have interviewed him over the summer, and he seems extremely skilled at teaching, but we did not want to let our previous professor go, because he, er, has done an excellent job—"

"How in the world can Binns be considered excellent?" Layla whispered to Lily.

Lily shook her head. "I dunno."

"So we are splitting up History of Magic," McGonagall was saying. "First, third, fifth, and seventh will go with Professor Binns, as we believe that it is better to let him teach OWL and NEWT year, since he's been teaching for a while. Professor Watson will teach second, fourth, and sixth year. In addition, he will be helping with Quidditch lessons in his spare time.

"Please welcome Professor Watson," McGonagall said. All eyes turned to see a man on the far right of the staff table stand up. He was wearing new black robes, but he looked like he was still in his mid-twenties, considerably young compared to the rest of the staff. He had short, curly brown hair and hazel-colored eyes. Professor Watson smiled at all the students, and quickly sat down.

"I hope he'll be better than Binns," Lily said.

"_Anyone _is better than Binns," Layla replied. "I'm glad we have a new teacher. Now I won't need to sleep during class."

"Quidditch tryouts will be held in the first week of October," McGonagall said. "The Forbidden Forest is out-of-bounds, so that all new students know, and students should all be in their common rooms by 9 pm."

"Well, I think that is all," McGonagall finished. "You may all go to bed."

Lily stood up and stretched as the rest of the students prepared to leave. She could see Lucy and Lysander trying to find the first-years, while the rest of the older students were pushing their way through the younger ones to leave first. "Let's just follow Lucy," Lily told Layla. "I don't know what the password is."

Layla nodded, and the two of them managed to follow the group of first-years up the stairs and toward the common room. The first-years didn't ask them anything, as Lily and Layla were about the same height as they were.

When Lucy and Lysander finally reached the Portrait of the Fat Lady, they pointed toward the picture. "This is the Fat Lady," Lucy told the first-years. "To enter the Gryffindor common room, you must tell her the correct password to let her in. The current password is 'Treacle Tart.' The password changes every month, so make sure to keep track of the password or you'll be locked out."

"Treacle Tart," Lucy told the Fat Lady, who swung open to admit the two prefects and the first-years inside. Lily and Layla waited until all the first-years where inside to walk through the portrait hole and back into the common room. There was a fire blazing in one corner of the room, and armchairs were surrounding it. On the other side, there were tables and desks for working.

"We're back again," Lily said, watching the common room. She yawned. "I think it's time to go to bed."

She climbed up the steps to the second-year girls' dormitories, where Elena and Olivia were already unpacking their trunks. "Where were you two?" Elena asked.

"We followed the first-years," Lily replied, opening her trunk, which was already on her bed because of the house-elves. "What did you do?"

"My brother told me the password before," Olivia replied. She had an older brother who was a sixth year. "So we just went up directly."

Lily nodded. She yawned again, and quickly pulled out a pair of pajamas. She changed into them and climbed into her bed, which was already covered with sheets. "I'll unpack tomorrow," Lily said. "I'm too tired."

Layla laughed. "Good night, Lily."

Lily quickly fell asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>It'll get more exciting soon, I promise! Please review?<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm really sorry about all the grammar/mixed-up name mistakes I made... I went back and proofread the previous two chapters, so hopefully they're error-free now. I read this chapter multiple times too, just in case. Maybe I should get a Beta-reader... But it seems to take so much longer, then.**

**Thanks for all the reviews!  
><strong>

* * *

><p>James scanned the Daily Prophet for any exciting news. The front page was all about the wedding of the Muggle British Prime Minister, something that James wasn't interested about. He flipped toward the Politics section and examined the articles. There was nothing exciting.<p>

_Hoot!_ A snowy white owl landed on top of the pile of toast, clutching a letter and hooting loudly. "Stop it, Hedwig," James said, moving the toast away from the owl. Hedwig, short for Hedwig II, was his father's owl, which he had gotten after the first Hedwig had died.

"What did your dad say?" Fred asked from across the table, reading his own letter at the same time.

James shrugged. "I didn't open the letter yet."

He untied the roll of parchment from the owl and unrolled it. It was a written in his father's distinguishable script.

_Hello James _[it read]

_I hope your seventh year is going well. It's going to be very busy, even though I never endured it myself, so I'm not a reliable source. Anyway, keep watch of your younger cousins and siblings. Your grandpa is going to send a letter soon to all of your family, so watch out for Styx. _

_ Your father, Harry Potter_

James scowled as he rolled up the parchment again. His father's letter seemed so distant and uninterested in his life, just telling him to keep watch of his younger relatives. James stabbed a piece of sausage and began eating.

Down the table, Styx, Grandma and Grandpa Weasley's owl, had just arrived, and all of the younger Potters/Weasleys were crowded around Lucy, who was holding the letter and reading it aloud. James decided not to join the rest of them, choosing to eat his breakfast in silence instead.

Another owl came swooping down; James recognized it to be the owl of Anton Rosencrantz, his Norwegian friend. He quickly untied the letter and read it. During the last week of the summer, a letter had come out in the Daily Prophet describing the many disappearances of children in England. Anton, living nearby in Norway, had also experienced disappearances. However, the Daily Prophet had quickly affirmed that the kidnapper, a middle-aged single wizard, had been caught, while Anton had still expressed that more children were being kidnapped.

_Hey James_

_ How's school? I bet it's quite boring compared to last year._

_ Something happened last night. Katrina—you know, my youngest sister—went to one of her friend's house for a sleepover. Her friend only lives two blocks away, so we let her walk there herself. Now that I think about it, that was probably a bad idea. Maria—Katrina's friend—said that she had showed up and stayed the night. However, Katrina had left two hours ago, but, right now, she still hasn't come back. Maybe she went to visit somebody else… we're all really worried, though. Hopefully the worst hasn't happened. _

Poor Anton, James thought. He hoped that Katrina was okay. James dug into his bag and pulled out a quill and ink. He turned the parchment over and scribbled a reply.

_Don't worry too much. Katrina might just have stopped by another friend's house or something like that. It's only been two hours… she'll come back soon, probably. If she doesn't… well, let's not jinx it._

"James."

James turned toward Oliver, who was calling his name. "Yeah?" he asked.

"You done?"

James nodded. "Yeah. Let's just stop in the Owlery on the way to our first period."

"What do you have?" Oliver asked, placing his timetable on the table. James pulled his from his bag and compared it to Oliver's. They had all the same classes, except Oliver had History of Magic when James had a free period. Fred had James's schedule too, except Fred had three less classes.

"It's not like I'm going to _need_ Potions when I grow up," Fred said, in response to Oliver's question about why he didn't study hard. "I'm not going to be a healer, or something like that which needs potions."

James opened the door of the Owlery and stepped inside. "Yeah, but still," Oliver replied. "You want to do the best you can in all your subjects."

"No, you want to have fun and relax too," Fred argued back. James ignored his two friends and went to attach his letter to Rosencrantz's owl, which had flown up to rest in the Owlery after it had delivered James the letter. He watched the owl fly out the window, growing smaller and smaller.

Then he turned and headed toward first period, Charms. The other two followed, still arguing.

* * *

><p>The first week of school quickly flew by. Fourth year had not been as bad as Albus had heard from his older cousins, but it was still more busy than third.<p>

"You are one year away from OWL year," Professor Anderson, the transfiguration professor, had said. "This means we will expect more of you so you will all be ready for next year."

It seemed a bit early to be preparing for OWL year, Albus thought, but nevertheless, he finished all his assignments on time. Albus, Rose, and Scorpius were the best students in their year. Albus was the best at Defence Against the Dark Arts, Scorpius was good at Potions, while Rose was the best at everything else. The three of them managed to work together and excel at all their classes, and they always had lots of free time, unlike the rest of their classmates.

On the third day of their second week of school, the three Gryffindors were working on a Charms essay when all of a sudden Rose spoke up. "I think we should start Dumbledore's Army tonight."

Albus and Scorpius exchanged glances. "That was really random," Scorpius said. "Why tonight?"

"Well, I've been thinking," Rose said, putting down her pen and turning her chair so she could face the other two. "School work has been quite busy so far, but it's been bearable. As the school year goes by, it'll get even more busy."

"What are you suggesting?" Scorpius asked.

"I think we should start it tonight," Rose replied. "We don't have that much work, and we have time. Besides, I really want to start learning these new spells. I've been reading up on them during the summer, and I've found some really cool ones. We'd be taking a break from schoolwork, too."

Albus nodded. "Yeah, I guess. But we need to tell the others."

"I already asked Lucy," Rose said. "She said that she was too busy; I mean, it is her OWL year. I think tonight, it should just be the three of us, and maybe some other people if they want. I could ask Lily or Hugo…"

"No," Scorpius interrupted. "Just us three. For today, at least."

Rose raised her eyebrows, but didn't protest. "Fine then. After dinner?"

After dinner, the three of them quickly finished up the last of their homework and then made their way up toward the Room of Requirement. Since Rose seemed to be the one who was most excited about learning spells, Albus and Scorpius let her walk back and forth. After Rose's third walk past, a door materialized. Rose squealed and quickly ran inside.

"Somebody's a bit too excited," Scorpius said in a low voice to Albus. Albus snorted and entered the Room of Requirement.

The Room was a perfect portrayal of what Rose liked. The walls were royal purple, Rose's favorite color. There were couches along the side of the room, but there was an empty space in the middle, with pillows and rugs scattered along the ground. There was also a bookshelf at the far end of the corridor, stuffed with books. Albus knew Rose would like this room, but it felt a little too bright for him.

Scorpius sank into a couch and closed his eyes, yawning, while Rose grabbed a random book off the shelf and began reading. Albus watched the two of his friends, slightly amused. After a few seconds when none of them made the slightest movement, Albus began to get annoyed. Then he smiled. He was in a room that would do his bidding whenever he thought something. It was the perfect time to take revenge on Scorpius for all the annoying things he did in the past.

_I need a bucket of cold water_, Albus thought, and a bucket of cold water appeared on the ground. He checked to make sure Scorpius's eyes were still closed. Then, he tiptoed with the bucket in one hand around the couch, and he poured the entire contents of the cold water onto his best friend's head.

Scorpius yelped. "What are you—?" he jumped up, feeling his hair that was now sopping wet. He saw Albus standing right behind him, holding an empty bucket and wearing a gleeful smile. "Oh, you're not getting away with that," Scorpius said. All of a sudden, a ball appeared on the ground before Scorpius. He picked it up and threw it at Albus, but he dodged. Quidditch training had come in useful.

Albus used his wand to make more water appear in his bucket, and was about to throw it again at Scorpius, when the door of the Room of Requirement opened. Albus dropped the water, staring at the entrance in shock. Even Rose had put down her book.

James, Albus's older brother, was standing there, looking surprised. "Wow, Albus," he said. "I didn't know you would throw water on people."

"Why are you here?" Albus asked, not answering his brother's question. "Who told you to come?"

"Lucy," James replied matter-of-factly. "She said that you had asked her to help teach new spells, so I thought that you wouldn't mind if we came along."

"We?" Albus asked.

"Well…" James hesitated, but another person stepped inside the room. Fred.

Albus had never seen anyone react so quickly, but that was probably because he'd never seen anyone as mad as Rose before. Rose stood up and pointed her wand at Fred. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, her wand still on Fred's chest.

Fred backed up, looking nervous. _I would be nervous too,_ Albus thought. Even though Fred was three years older than Rose, Rose was known to be a great dueler.

"I just wanted to say," Fred began slowly. "That I told Dad not to sell any more of those button things. You were right; they didn't belong in a joke shop."

Rose nodded, but didn't move her wand away.

"And also, I want to apologize," Fred continued. "For what I said on the train that day. I didn't mean it… I just wanted to make you go away."

"Wait…" Albus interrupted. "What are you apologizing for?"

"It's nothing," Rose said. She stopped pointing her wand at Fred and held it to her side. "It's okay, Fred," she said. "So will you help us?"

Fred nodded. "If it's okay with you. But you need more people; right now, it's kind of small. Why don't we find a day when none of us are busy, and we can get our whole family up here to practice spells? It sounds like a good idea."

"Okay," Rose said, giving Fred a smile.

"Thanks, Rose," Fred replied, turning to leaving the Room of Requirement. James gave Albus a wicked grin but followed his friend out of the room.

"Now can you get this water off of me?" Scorpius interrupted. "I'm freezing right now."

"I don't know the spell," Albus answered. "Sorry."

Rose sighed in exasperation. "Haitando," she said, pointing her wand at Scorpius. Immediately, his robes and hair dried.

Scorpius rubbed his hair. "Aw, now it's all messed up," he said. "I spend hours every morning making it perfect."

Albus laughed, remembering last year's Yule Ball, when Scorpius applied layers of gel to his hair to make it smooth. Rose just shook her head.

"So, what spells do you want to learn first?" Albus asked.

"How about _Protego_?" Rose offered. "It's very useful."

Albus and Scorpius nodded. "Let's take turns. I'll stun, Rose blocks, and Scorpius watches," Albus said. He positioned himself so he could focus on Rose. "Stupefy!" he shouted. They had never officially been taught that spell, but the three of them had learned it on their own. Stunning was quite a useful spell.

Albus was lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice Rose's perfect shield charm until his own stunning charm hit him in the chest and he hit the ground.

* * *

><p>Lucy looked up at the clock. "Oh no, I'm late," she said, putting down her essay and running out of the Gryffindor Common Room. Fifth year really was a nightmare. Her teachers had been giving her so much homework that she barely had any time to rest. Prefect duties occupied an hour every week too, for patrolling the corridors.<p>

Lucy ran toward the area outside the Headmistress's office, where prefects met for duty. Every week, one boy and one girl were paired together to patrol the corridors for about an hour. There were two slots: 8-9, or 9-10. Today, Lucy had the 9:00-10:00 pm slot. Lucy remembered, with a grimace, how last week had turned out.

She had arrived outside McGonagall's office at 7:55, five minutes early. She had waited for a few minutes until finally the other prefect had arrived. He was a sixth-year Hufflepuff, somebody that Lucy had never met before. They patrolled the corridors silently, not having much to talk about. It was honestly the most awkward hour Lucy had ever had to deal with. It wasn't that Lucy wasn't talkative; she loved talked to others. It was just that the Hufflepuff was really annoying. He wouldn't respond to anything Lucy said but just kept on walking.

As Lucy hurried toward her destination, she hoped she had somebody good to patrol with. For the first two months, their patrols would be assigned, but later on, they would be able to choose. Lucy hoped the person she was assigned to wasn't boring, like the sixth-year Hufflepuff.

"I'm really sorry I'm late," Lucy said, turning the corner and seeing Maeve Robinson, the Head Girl, and Nicholas Schwab, a fellow fifth-year Ravenclaw. Nicholas gave Lucy a smile, and Lucy returned it. She and Nicholas weren't the best friends, but they were acquainted. He had been part of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, and he was quite intelligent too. He also had the prettiest green eyes that seemed to stare right into your soul when you looked at them.

"Oh, it's okay," Maeve replied. "You're only a few minutes late. Well, I expect Oliver told you last week, but your job is to patrol the whole school, starting from the ground floor and working your way up to the top. It should only take about an hour. If there are any students still out, just remember their name and tell me when you report back here in an hour. Got it?"

Lucy and Nicholas nodded simultaneously. "Good luck," Maeve said, heading off in the opposite direction.

"So," Nicholas said as they set off. "How do you like fifth year so far?"

"I hate it," Lucy replied, as they walked past the Great Hall and the other empty classrooms on the first floor. "It's so busy. All our professors are giving us so much work."

Nicholas nodded in agreement. "Plus, we have prefect duties, which takes even more time. Our Quidditch tryouts are taking place next week, but I dunno if I'll have time to play Quidditch."

"You should still try out," Lucy answered. Nicholas had been a beater for the Ravenclaw Team in his third year, and he had been pretty good, helping Ravenclaw get 2nd place in the Quidditch House Cup. Gryffindor was still first, of course. "Are you still trying for beater?"

Nicholas shook his head. "I don't really like hitting bludgers at people. If I had my choice, I would be Keeper. It sounds really fun. Of course, I might not get the spot…"

"You should still try out, though," Lucy said. "You never know."

"Perhaps," Nicholas said. "How's the Gryffindor team doing?"

"Our tryouts are this Saturday," Lucy replied. She got into a deep explanation of the Gryffindor team. The majority of the team was part of the Weasley/Potter clan. James was the captain, and one of the Chasers. As captain, he wanted the team to work well together, which meant that even if somebody was really good, they had to cooperate. He said that the other two chasers would probably be Roxanne Weasley—the daughter of George and Angelina, she was really good—and one other person who cooperated well. The beaters would be Fred Weasley and Peter Gladwell, a sixth-year who had been on the team for 4 years and cooperated well with Fred. For the seeker, it could be Albus Potter—he had decided on focusing on seeking—or Scorpius Malfoy. It all depended on who was better.

"Did I honestly just tell you all that?" Lucy asked as soon as she finished explaining. "I just gave all of Gryffindor's secrets away. Now you're going to tell the Ravenclaw's all about them. Oh, Merlin, James is going to kill me."

"I promise I won't tell," Nicholas replied. "I swear. Besides, it's not like you told me anything secretive. We'd find out anyway in two days."

Lucy still wasn't convinced, but she nodded.

The two of them continued patrolling the corridors, talking about Quidditch or schoolwork as they walked. When they reached the seventh floor, Lucy heard a voice coming from the hallway in front of them. It seemed like it was _laughing_.

"Is that Peeves?" Lucy whispered. Nicholas shrugged. The two of them silently walked forward, toward the voice. It didn't sound like Peeves; besides, they had just encountered him below on the fifth floor.

The laughter got louder as they reached a blank stretch of wall. With a start, Lucy realized that this was the entrance to the Room of Requirement. Today was Thursday; there shouldn't be anyone in there. Rose had said that they were using it yesterday, but not today.

Lucy turned to Nicholas. "Do you know what this is?" she asked. Nicholas shook his head. "You've never heard of the room of requirement?"

"I've heard of it before," Nicholas replied. "It was used during the Battle of Hogwarts, wasn't it? But I never knew it actually existed."

"It does exist," Lucy answered. "And it's right here. The Room of Requirement. To get in, all you have to do is walk back and forth three times. Then a door appears, and you can go inside and do whatever you want."

Nicholas nodded. "But why would somebody be in there right now?"

Lucy shrugged. "Let's find out."

She walked back and forth three times, thinking _I need the place where the laughter is coming from. Show me that place. I need to see it._ When she opened her eyes, no door appeared.

"That's strange," Lucy said. "There's nothing."

"Maybe you're thinking of the wrong thing?" Nicholas suggested. He walked up and passed the door three times. Nothing appeared.

"That's really weird," Lucy commented, frowning. She put her ear to the wall, but the laughter had disappeared. All was quiet.

"Let's just keep on going," Nicholas said, walking down the hallway. "I don't know what was in there. We can just tell Maeve later. We're almost done anyway."

Lucy nodded, and followed her fellow prefect down the hall. They finally reached the end of the hallway and started down the stairs from the seventh floor all the way to the first floor. As they were walking, there was a silence between them. Nicholas was just staring at the floor, not saying anything. Lucy didn't say anything either but just continued walking.

Soon, they reached the first floor, and walked toward the area at the foot of the Headmistress's office. Maeve Robinson was already standing there. "How was it?" she asked.

"It was good," Lucy replied. "But on the seventh floor, we heard this voice coming from inside the area where the Room of Requirement is located. It sounded like it was laughing."

"That's strange," Maeve said. "Did you discover whose voice it was?"

Lucy shook her head. "No, sorry."

"It's probably just some students who are using it so they don't have to be back in their common room," Maeve said. "But I'll make sure to tell the other prefects about it. So, Lucy, your next patrol time is next Tuesday at this time, and yours, Nicholas, is next Friday at 8. Got it?"

They both nodded.

"Okay, you can go back to your common rooms now," Maeve told them.

"What in the world could that voice have been?" Lucy asked Nicholas again. He just shrugged. They walked in silence together until they reached a point where they would separate to go to different common rooms.

"See you tomorrow in Potions," Lucy told Nicholas, turning to leave.

"Wait!" he called, and Lucy turned back, confused.

"What?" she asked.

"Er…" he hesitated, staring at his feet. "There's a Hogsmeade trip next Saturday, so do you want to go together? It's okay if you're busy…"

Lucy thought for a moment. Nicholas seemed quite earnest, he was intelligent, part of the Quidditch team, a prefect, _and_ a bit hot, so she accepted. "I don't have anything to do," she replied. "I'm fine with that."

Nicholas smiled. "Okay, thanks! See you tomorrow, then." He ran off in the direction of the Ravenclaw tower.

Lucy headed back to the Gryffindor tower with a slight grin on her face. She wasn't sure what Lorcan, Louis, or Lysander would say, though. She wasn't sure she wanted to know.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'm not the best at writing romance scenes, so sorry if I made it too cheesy. There's going to be more action in the next chapters, though... you'll find out soon. Please review? How were your Halloweens?<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thanks for all your reviews! In response to some of you asking how my Halloween was, it was good. I didn't go trick-or-treating, but just stayed home... **

**Other answers to questions: You'll eventually find out what the laughter was, and why Harry is so distant (though it's part of his character). As for Lucy/Lysander, you never know... :) Yes, there will be others beside family in the DA-like group. I fixed the error with the Headmaster/Dumbledore's office. As for all the randomness—well, these are the first few chapters, so it's basically just setting up the plot and the characters, so it might be a bit random. **

* * *

><p>Hugo headed down to the Quidditch pitch with Connor Parker, his best friend, and Layla Longbottom, another of his friends. Layla normally hung out with Lily or the other Gryffindor girls, but Lily was trying out for the Quidditch team today, and Elena and Olivia (the other Gryffindors) decided to stay inside to study. So Layla just tagged along with Hugo.<p>

"Let's sit in the top row," Hugo suggested, and the other two followed him toward there. The stadium was quite full, but most people were sitting near the front. _They must not know much about Quidditch_, Hugo thought. Unlike other events, the top row was the best spot for Quidditch, since you could watch them fly around without having to crane your neck to watch.

In about five minutes, James, the Gryffindor captain and one of Hugo's cousins, appeared on the pitch, dressed in Quidditch robes. He yelled something and about twenty people stepped out of the stands and mounted their brooms. James split the students into two teams. Then he released three Quaffles—not the usual sole Quaffle so more people could score—and two Bludgers and told everyone to start flying.

Twenty brooms lifted into the air, and twenty people shot toward the Quaffles. "Go Lily!" Layla shouted from down in the stands. Up in the air, Lily looked down from her Nimbus 2004 and waved at Hugo and his friends.

Hugo had always been a fan of Quidditch. He'd played it with his family ever since he was young, but then he'd decided that he would stick to watching it. At last year's tryouts, he had found out that he wasn't too skilled at it compared to the others. Still, it was fun watching the others play.

Fred Weasley and Peter Gladwell, a seventh and a sixth year respectively who had been Gryffindor Beaters for four years, pelted bludger after bludger at their fellow Gryffindors. They worked really well together, probably because they've played together for four years. James made a good decision keeping them as beaters. Even if he did find other players who was better, chances were that they wouldn't cooperate as well as Fred and Peter did.

Twenty minutes into playing, both of the teams had scored a lot of points. Hugo had tried to keep track of who scored the most points as they played, but he couldn't tell who scored the most. It would be very difficult to get onto the team. There were only two open spots for Chaser; James already occupied one spot.

After a few more minutes, James called out, "Stop!" All the people stopped moving, and they headed back toward the ground. Hugo perked up his ears to hear what James was saying. "As you all know, we can only accept two chasers this year—I'm one of them. So, this means that it's quite hard to get on the team. Don't feel as if you're bad if you don't make it."

James paused and stared around at the aspirant chasers. "Alright," he said. "I've decided. The first chaser is somebody who helped their team score the most points."

The students started whispering to each other. "It doesn't mean you have to be on the winning team to get in!" James shouted. "I'm just saying that this person was on the winning team. This person cooperated quite well with the others, not hogging the Quaffle all the time. Also, she managed to score five goals in total. Congratulations, Roxanne Weasley."

"I knew she'd be chosen," Layla commented from her seat next to Hugo.

Hugo nodded in agreement. "James always has to make these long speeches before choosing who he's going to put on the team. Anyway, who do you think the other person is?"

"I dunno," Layla responded. "I hope it's Lily, though."

"I hope so too," Hugo said, though he knew that she probably wouldn't get on the team. She was, after all, only a second year.

"The second member of our team is another person who worked well with the others," James continued. "This person has been on our team before, so I know he'll do good. Andrew Stein."

Andrew Stein, a sixth-year who had been on the team last year, nodded at James. "When will the first practice be?"

"I'm not sure yet," James responded. "I'll decide after the rest of the team is chosen. Now, we already have beaters, but we need a seeker and a keeper. You've got to help me choose!"

The two chasers stayed behind while the rest of them dispersed. Lily, instead of going to the changing rooms, ran straight up the stands toward Hugo and the others. "You were really good!" Layla said. "It's too bad James didn't choose you. I bet in a few years you'll get on the team, though."

Lily nodded. "It doesn't matter. The others were better." She sat down next to Layla and watched the Quidditch pitch, which now held keepers. James, the other two chasers, and the beaters threw Quaffles into the goals while the other students tried to save as many as possible. Some random fifth-year, Scarlett Lestrade, managed to save all five and earned herself a spot on the team.

After Lestrade happily joined the rest of her team members watching in the stands, the seekers were now preparing to catch the most golf balls so they could get on the team. Among the hopefuls were Scorpius Malfoy and Albus Potter.

"Who do you want on the team?" Connor asked, sitting next to Hugo.

"Me?" Hugo asked. "Honestly, I don't really care. Obviously, I want Albus to be on the team, but if somebody else gets on the team, I don't mind."

"What about Scorpius?" Lily said from Hugo's other side. She was standing up and jumping up and down, watching as the students flew across the field.

Hugo shrugged. "They're good friends, so it would be fun to see one of them get on the team and the other not make it." He knew some of his family, especially his dad, was biased against Malfoy because he was a Slytherin. Hugo, however, didn't really care. If Scorpius got on the team, all that mattered was his skill. It didn't matter what his background was, as long as he helped the team win the Quidditch Cup.

After ten minutes, the players were huddled on the ground and James was telling them who made it. "Albus Potter," James said. "Congratulations."

"Good job, Albus!" Lily shouted from the stands. Albus looked up and gave her sister a wave.

"Scorpius must be mad," Hugo said under his breath, watching him and Albus start talking about something. Hugo stood up and started walking down the stands, back toward the castle.

"I wonder what the others will say about this, though," Layla commented. "Four Weasleys on one team? Maybe they'll think James is biased."

"Well, that's because all of them are actually really good at Quidditch," Connor said. "I mean, they all have parents who are skilled at Quidditch."

"When the end of the year comes, nobody will think they're not qualified to be on the team," Lily said confidently. The four second-years reached the pathway leading toward the school. "Gryffindor's won the Quidditch cup for 8 years in a row. This year will be no different."

"Don't be so sure, Miss Potter," called a voice from behind the second-years. Hugo jumped, seeing his History of Magic teacher, Professor Watson, walking toward them. Professor Watson was a really nice teacher, but he told his students that he had been a Slytherin when he was in school. Hugo put aside house differences; Professor Watson was a friendly and helpful teacher, which was all that mattered.

Lily gave Professor Watson a grin. "Why don't you think we'll win?"

"We've got a new captain this year in Slytherin," Watson replied. "He plans on training our team very well. But I wish your team luck."

He patted Lily on the back as he walked past them. Lily and Layla exchanged looks. When Watson was out of earshot, Layla whispered, "What was that all about?"

Lily shrugged. "I dunno. But he wasn't being mean. He was just trying to be funny, I suppose."

"He likes you a lot," Hugo said, turning to watch the professor walk away. "That's why you always get Outstandings on all you assignments."

"I get Outstandings because I study hard, not because he likes me!" Lily replied, indignant.

"Maybe, but you _are_ his favorite student," Hugo said. "I guess it's because you just look so adorable and innocent whenever you smile."

Lily smiled wide. "Yep."

"But he doesn't know that she can be quite evil when she wants," Hugo whispered to Connor.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure you're feeling better?" Madame Pomfrey asked.<p>

Roxanne nodded. She had been in the Hospital Wing for two nights, after breaking an arm during Quidditch Practice. "I'm fine. It was only a small injury, and you fixed it perfectly. Besides, I really don't want to miss more classes."

Madame Pomfrey sighed. "If you really feel that way. But no Quidditch practice for three days, minimum."

"Thank you," Roxanne said. She gathered her books and followed Dominique and Charlotte Wilkinson—another Gryffindor—who had been watching as Roxanne argued with the nurse, out of the Hospital Wing. "What class do we have next?"

"I have History of Magic," Dominique said. "I don't know what you have; you got a troll in History of Magic, didn't you?"

"I got a dreadful," Roxanne replied. "It's not _as_ bad as a troll, but it wasn't enough to make it into NEWT History of Magic—not that I wanted to take it. I think I have a free period now. How's History of Magic?"

"It's so much fun," Charlotte said. "Professor Watson is so funny. He's not boring at all like Binns. He manages to make history interesting, as if everything's a drama, even if it's about the most boring kings and queens ever. Last class he told us all about Merlin and his school years; it was so funny the way he described it."

If Charlotte was entertained by History of Magic, Roxanne knew that the professor must be good. "Is this the second class so far?"

"Third," Dominique reply. "Why?"

Roxanne looked down. "Do you think he'd let me join? I mean, I know I got a dreadful, but it's not like I have anything else to do this period. And if I get bored, I'll just leave."

"We could go talk to Professor Watson and see what he says," Charlotte told her friend. "I bet he'll agree."

The three friends walked toward the History of Magic classroom, chattering about schoolwork along the way. When they got there, the classroom was nearly empty, except for two Hufflepuffs, Molly, and Professor Watson.

Molly looked up when the three sixth-years entered. She was the busiest out of all of them, having gotten an Outstanding in every class or elective offered. Unlike the others, who had come from a free period, she had come from astronomy, which the others had quit.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. Roxanne didn't reply, but walked toward the professor with Charlotte. Dominique went to sit by Molly.

"Professor Watson?" Charlotte asked.

The professor turned from the board, where he was writing some notes. "Hello, Miss Charles Wilkinson," he said. "What do you require assistance with?"

"I have a friend," Charlotte began. "Roxanne."

"I've heard of you," Professor Watson said, looking at Roxanne. "You're a Weasley, aren't you?"

Roxanne nodded. "Yes, sir. Anyway, I failed my History of Magic OWL last year, so I wasn't able to continue to OWL level. But I just wondered if I would be able to sit in and listen; I have a free period this time anyway. I promise I won't be disruptive. The only reason I failed was because Professor Binns was a bit difficult to follow."

Professor Watson chuckled. "Ah, yes, I'll allow you to sit in. If you wish to continue in this class after a few weeks, I'll talk to your head of house and arrange something." He lowered his voice. "I had Professor Binns when I was here… I don't like to speak ill of my coworkers, but he was, let's just say, a bit dull."

"Thank you, professor," Roxanne replied. "I'll try my best."

Roxanne and Charlotte returned to their seats while the rest of the class came in. "_Charles_ Wilkinson?" Roxanne whispered to her friend. "What was that about?"

"I'm not exactly sure," Charlotte responded. "He gave all of us nicknames. Mine was Charles, probably because I asked this question about the kings of England. One of them was supposedly named Charles, and that's similar to Charlotte, so I guess that's why he calls me that."

"Interesting," Roxanne commented. "But at least he seems like a nice teacher." She doodled on a scrap of paper until the bell sounded and the class settled down.

"Good afternoon class!" Professor Watson announced, turning around from the board.

"Good afternoon, Professor," the class repeated.

"Where were we last week?" Watson said. "I'm not entirely sure."

"Sir, we were just talking about Merlin's seventh year at Hogwarts," said somebody from the first row.

"Ah, yes," Watson replied. "I thought that was it, but I just wanted to make sure. History of Magic is only once a week… it must not be as important as your other classes, which are twice a week.

"So onto Merlin… it was the end of his seventh year and he graduated, top of his class. Of course, he was a typical troublemaker, blowing up toilet seats and that kind of stuff. Like somebody here," Watson stopped and gave Euan Weiss, sitting near the right side of the room, a glare. Weiss was the biggest troublemaker in sixth year, and evidently Watson knew it.

"Me?" Weiss acted innocent. "I never blew up a toilet seat in my life."

"Sure," Watson said, shaking his head at the left side of his room. "Anyway, Merlin immediately wanted to gain power, so he managed to get a job in the Ministry of Magic…"

Professor Watson talked for the rest of the period about Merlin's life, but, unlike Binns, he included funny parts and managed to keep everyone awake. When the bell finally rang, Roxanne didn't even want to leave. "Homework!" Professor Watson announced. Everyone groaned. "The same as last week. Summarize what you learned today – five inches. That's not too bad, is it?"

Everyone shook their heads. "So, how did you like class today?" Charlotte asked Roxanne as they packed up their bags.

"It was great," Roxanne responded. "Professor Watson is naturally funny. I don't feel like doing homework, though…"

"You don't have to – you're not officially in this class. But you should probably ask Professor Watson to make sure."

Roxanne nodded and walked up toward her teacher. "Excuse me?" she asked. "Should I do the assignment?"

"Well, considering you're not an actual student in my class, I can't force you," Watson replied. "But if you have extra time, please attempt to do it. My homework assignments are simply to help you review, so you won't forget what you learned in class. Alright?"

"Thank you, professor," Roxanne replied. "Can I come back next week?"

Waton nodded. "I'm glad you want to."

* * *

><p>"I honestly don't understand why Rose wants to do this," Fred muttered as he climbed the steps toward the seventh floor. "It's not like we need to defend ourselves. There aren't people outside wanting to kill us."<p>

"You never know," James said seriously. "I have experience to back that up," James added, when Fred looked at him strangely. Fred knew he was referring to the end of last year, when he was kidnapped. "Besides, you were the one who wanted to go help them. Why are you complaining?"

"I only offered to help because I didn't want her to stay mad at me," Fred answered. "It was the only way I could get Rose to stop looking like she wanted to murder me whenever I appeared."

"Why is she mad at you anyway?" James asked. "What did you do?"

"I told you already, we were developing these buttons that caused pain, and Rose didn't like them," Fred replied.

"_That's_ the only reason why she's mad?"

"Yep."

James didn't look convinced, but Fred didn't feel like telling him the whole truth. What really happened had involved much more arguing. On the Hogwarts Express, Fred had been walking down the corridor to use the bathroom when he bumped into Rose.

"Hey Fred!" Rose had said enthusiastically.

Fred halfheartedly said hi.

"We wanted to start learning all these spells," Rose said, talking really fast. "But we need other people to help us learn. Sort of like what our parents did back when they were at Hogwarts."

"It sounds fun, but I don't think I'll be able to help," Fred replied. "Sorry."

"Please?" Rose had begged.

"Maybe," Fred said. Maybe's always meant no. "This year's NEWT year and I'll be quite busy."

Rose sighed.

"You have Albus to help," Fred told his cousin. "And I bet you can get your other friends."

Rose nodded. "Like Scorpius or… or Emma, or Rachel, I guess."

Fred had no clue who Rose was talking about. "Who?"

"Emma and Rachel are other girls in my year," Rose said. "I don't really talk to them much… but Scorpius is one of my best friends, along with Al."

Fred frowned. "Don't you have any friends who are girls?"

"Some," Rose said nonchalantly. "Why does it matter to you?"

"I just want to make sure you get company with some other people your age," Fred replied.

"Well, I'm perfectly fine with my friends," Rose said crisply. "I don't need you poking your nose in my business. And I _have_ two best friends. Al and Scorpius."

"Scorpius Malfoy?" Fred ask. "Draco Malfoy's son? He's your best friend?"

"We've been best friends for four years," Rose retorted. "He's very nice. And you should have known that if you ever paid attention to anyone besides yourself."

It got bad after that. Fred wasn't sure exactly what happened, but he had shouted something at Rose about Scorpius being a bad example. He hadn't meant to be so harsh, but Rose had looked at him like he'd just said the word 'mudblood.' Then she had stomped off in the other direction.

Fred shook his head, clearing his mind from his memory. They had reached the seventh floor. "Want to do it?" James asked.

"You can do it," Fred replied, and stood back as James walked back and forth three times. A door appeared.

"I wonder who else is here," was all James said before he pulled open the door. Fred entered after him, closing the door tightly behind him. Inside was a room that was just a bit too bright for him. Otherwise, it seemed perfect for practicing spells.

In the middle of the room was a group of chairs forming a circle. Students were sitting on the chairs, talking among themselves. There were about twenty-five or so people in total; some were part of the Weasley/Potter clan, some others were probably just friends. Most of them looked quite young.

"Too bad Oliver couldn't come," Fred commented, staring around. "He's good with children." Oliver had to be on head duties at this time.

James walked over to the group. "Hey James," Rose said, from a seat in the circle. "We'll make room for you." She closed her eyes and two chairs appeared in the center of the circle.

"That's so cool!" said a girl nearby, sitting next to Lily. Fred believed that was Elena or somebody like that, one of Lily's friends, but he wasn't sure. He grabbed a chair and pushed it toward an empty spot in the circle.

There was an awkward silence as Fred and James sat down. Fred looked around and noticed that all the students were looking at him and James. "Why are you all looking at us?" he asked. "This wasn't our idea… it was Rose's."

"Well, you two are the oldest, so you should know the most," said a small boy sitting across from Fred.

Fred met James eyes. "Alright," said James, taking charge. "Has Rose told all of you why we're here?"

"She said something about learning spells," said a girl who looked like she was in Rose's year.

"Well, that's what we planned to do," Rose interrupted before James could say anything. "But I don't think it has to be restricted to just learning spells. I mean, we can learn advanced magic… but not just spells."

"What Rose is saying," Albus added. "Is that we wanted to learn other stuff too. Like making advanced potions—Felix Felicis, for example, or Polyjuice Potion. Or we could even learn… Occlumency."

"Polyjuice potion is illegal," Lucy spoke up. She was sitting next to one boy that Fred had never seen before, while Louis and the Scamander twins were on her other side. "And Occlumency's really advanced. It's really difficult to learn."

"I asked my father to teach it to me last summer," James said. "He didn't want to, but eventually I convinced him to teach me. But I gave up after the first lesson. It takes so much concentration, and it just gives you headaches at first. Besides, it's not like anyone would use Legilmency on us. Doesn't it sound a bit odd, having the ability to look into other peoples' minds?"

"Okay, so no Legilmency/Occlumency," Rose said. "But we'll still learn other stuff."

"I think, before we start, we should first go around and introduce ourselves," Fred said. "We won't be able to learn unless we know who we all are."

They nodded in agreement. "I'll start," Fred said. "I'm Fred Weasley. This is my last year at Hogwarts, and I'm in Gryffindor."

"James Potter. I'm a Gryffindor and a seventh year."

The girl on James's left said, "Emma Stone, Gryffindor, fourth year."

"Rachel Rubin, Gryffindor and fourth year too."

"George Harris, Ravenclaw, fifth year."

"Nicholas Schwab. I'm in Ravenclaw and a fifth year."

"Lucy Weasley. Gryffindor, fifth year."

They continued for a while until everyone said their names. Fred counted as he listened; he and James were the only seventh years. Dominique and one of her friends had shown up, making two sixth years. Fred's other sixth year cousins were probably too busy. There were six fifth years, ten fourth years—Rose must have told a lot of her classmates—no third or first years, but seven second years. There were no Slytherins and mostly Gryffindors, but there were an equal amount of Ravenclaws as Hufflepuffs. That made twenty-seven people in all.

"Okay," said James after the last person, Connor Parker, had said his name, house, and age. "Since we have so many people with so many different ages, I think it might be better if we divided into two groups."

"No," Albus said loudly. "We don't need to."

"Why not?" James asked. "There are second years and fifth years; we're all of different abilities."

"That's why we're here to learn," Albus responded. "So the older ones can help the younger ones."

James sighed. "Fine. So, what do you want to learn first?"

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for the sort-of cliffhanger ending. This chapter was almost 4000 words already, so I didn't want to make it too long.<strong>

**Do any of you have an idea what this DA-like group should be called? I don't think it should be Dumbledore's Army, since Dumbledore is gone. A new name would be better. Ideas? I'll use the best one! (I'm not the best at names - that's partly why my chapters are just called Chapter #)  
><strong>

**I know these first few chapters are a bit boring, but I promise there will be something exciting in the next chapter!  
><strong>

**Please revie****w?**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry for not updating in a while... I hope this chapter makes up for it!**

**As for the title of the DA, I read all the suggestions, but I didn't use a single one; I _combined_ the names—you'll see as you read this chapter. Anyway, thanks to LeaderOfTheDamned and midnightsta****r19 for their suggestions - which I used. Thanks to my other readers/reviewers too: heavensboy, ebonbon, FatallyUnique, Mirany E.T, and The Troll. Anyway, thanks everyone for your suggestions and reviews!  
><strong>

* * *

><p>PREVIOUSLY:<p>

_"So, what do you want to learn first?"  
><em>

* * *

><p>"Expelliarmus," Lily offered.<p>

"That's really basic," Fred said. "Who here knows how to cast that spell?"

Everyone except the seven second-years knew _Expelliarmus._ "What should we do, then?" Fred asked.

"Let's just review it," Rose suggested. "There's nothing wrong with reviewing."

Rose could tell that James didn't like the idea, but he nodded. "Okay, let's get into pairs and practice. For those of you that don't know, the incantation is 'Expelliarmus,' and all you do is point your wand at your opponent."

Rose looked around for a partner as Albus and Scorpius paired up, and Emma and Rachel became partners too.

"You've learned Expelliarmus already, haven't you?" James asked, walking over to Rose.

She nodded. "Most of us have."

"But you've perfected it," James replied. "I know Al has too, but since he's practicing with Malfoy he's busy. If you want, you could just walk around and help out younger students."

"Good idea," Rose said. "But please, don't call him 'Malfoy.'"

James looked confused. "Why?"

"He doesn't like being called by his surname."

"But I don't know him that well… why would I call him 'Scorpius?' "

"His last name brings bad memories," Rose explained. It was true. When Rose first met Scorpius in her first year, she called him 'Malfoy' for a while until they had become closer friends. Then he told her about how he hated his surname. "Just, if you ever happen to talk to him, call him Scorpius, okay?"

James looked confused but nodded. He turned around and started walking around, observing and telling some second-year boys what to do. Rose went in the opposite direction, toward Lily and her friends.

"How's it going?" she asked.

"I think I got it," Lily said. She held her wand up toward her partner and carefully said "Expelliarmus," almost as if she was afraid of saying the whole word. Layla's wand shot out of her hand, and Lily caught it.

"Good job," Rose complimented Lily. "But don't say it so quietly. When you're actually dueling, your enemy is going to be gripping his wand really tightly, and you'll need to cast the spell with much more conviction. The way you say it now sounds like you're afraid of something."

"I just don't want to do it wrong," Lily said.

"It doesn't matter if you get it wrong," Rose replied. "We're here to learn. Out in the real world, there won't be time for error. But right now it's okay. Make as many mistakes as you want."

"At least you can do the spell," Layla added. "I can't even do it!"

"Can you try it?" Rose asked.

Layla nodded. Lily tossed the wand back toward Layla, and she said the incantation and did the movement. Nothing happened, though.

"Try to concentrate more on the wand," Rose suggested. "Imagine you're pulling the wand physically out of her hand."

"Okay," she said. Layla stared at Lily's wand for a few seconds, and then said, "Expelliarmus." The wand didn't jump out, but it gave a slight twitch.

"That's good," Rose encouraged. "A few more tries, and you'll get it."

Thirty minutes later, the meeting was almost over. The older students had mastered Expelliarmus a while ago and were now relaxing, while the younger ones were still struggling. "This isn't working," Rose said to James. "The age gap makes it too difficult."

"That's why I wanted to split into two groups," James replied. "But Albus disagreed."

Albus, who was nearby doing his homework, looked up. "What did you say about me?"

"Just your idea about not breaking into groups," James said. "Some of you are relaxing while others are struggling."

"Right," Albus said, putting his homework away in his bag.

"Now you think I'm right?" James asked.

"No, you're still wrong," Albus replied. "I was talking about me doing homework; I should have been helping the younger students instead. But I still think we should all be learning the same things, and if some don't understand, the older ones should help. It builds a spirit of unity."

"A spirit of unity?" Rose asked, shaking her head.

"I know how we'll get a spirit of unity," Fred said, walking over toward the group of them. "We could end now. It's late; everyone's tired."

Rose nodded. "Everyone! The meeting's over!"

All the students lowered their wands and walked over toward Rose and James. They stood there expectantly, as if waiting for them to say something.

"I don't know about you, but I don't think this meeting has worked very well," James said. "Some of you have already learned this spell, while others haven't, and that sort of divides up. I just want to know your opinions about this. Do you like this meeting? Should we even meet next week? Or is it too boring?"

"I think we should meet," Dominique said. "But if we want to, we need to seriously change a few things. First of all, I don't think we should learn entirely different things. We should just learn at a different pace. Next week, for those who already understand Expelliarmus, we can move onto Stunning or something like that. Others of you can still continue to learn Expelliarmus."

"Won't that make others feel behind, though?" Rose asked.

"We won't feel bad," Lily said. "We're learning stuff that most second-years haven't learned yet. You're all much older, so it's not like we're stupid."

"That's a good idea," James said. "So, when do you want the next meeting to be?"

"Well, since this meeting is completely legal—I mean, we're not breaking any rules, unless we start learning illegal things—I think we should meet at a constant time every week," Rose suggested. "How about every Saturday, in the evening, like today?"

"I think Sunday would be a better time," Albus replied. "We need Saturday to practice Quidditch."

Rose rolled her eyes. _Quidditch._ "Fine, let's meet next Sunday. I guess we can go now."

"Wait!" Fred shouted. "I think we should have a name."

Rose looked at him oddly. "What's wrong with Dumbledore's Army?"

"We need a new name," Fred said. "This club is much different from the one back then. We're not learning solely defensive spells; we're going to learn other stuff too. Also, Dumbledore's gone, so I don't think the title's appropriate. And this isn't for defense; it's for extra help."

"It would create a better spirit of unity," Albus said thoughtfully. Rose resisted the urge to kick him.

"Fine. What ideas do you have?" Rose addressed everyone this time.

She could see all the students thinking. "How about the Homework Help Club?" suggested one second-year.

"That's okay," Rose said. She thought it was a bit boring but she didn't want to offend the girl. "But this isn't exactly homework."

"How about the Extra Learning Club?" Lysander said.

"That's a horrible name," Lucy said.

"You have a better one?"

Lucy paused, looking thoughtful. "Magic-101," she finally said. "Because we're learning so many things about magic, like the expression '101' always implies."

"That's good," James said. "But I think we should change it to 102 or something like that. Since we're learning more than normal magic."

"Magic-102?" Rose asked. "Why don't we find a number that has some significance?"

"Well, there are 27 of us here, and we could multiply it by 4 since there are four houses to get 108," Lucy suggested. "Magic-108."

James frowned. "Maybe. But the number of people here will probably change, and there are only three houses."

"I think it's good," Rose said. "Magic-108. But we could add something at the beginning or end. Like… Magic-108's army. Or the order of Magic-108."

"We should make it something a bit vague so nobody will know it," Lily said. "How about the Order of the 108? It's shorter but mysterious."

"Alright," James said. "It sounds unique. Anybody not like the Order of the 108?"

Nobody protested. "So our tentative name right now is the Order of the 108," James said. "We can always change it next week if you want, but otherwise I think it's fine."

As the meeting suspended, Rose found her way to Scorpius and Al. "This meeting utterly failed," Scorpius told Rose.

Normally, Rose would have said something sarcastic, but she had to agree. Hopefully next meeting would be better.

* * *

><p>A week later, Louis, Lysander, Lorcan, and Lucy were eating breakfast together at the Gryffindor table as they normally did. Today, however, was a Hogsmeade Saturday, which meant they got to go out into Hogsmeade and do whatever they wanted.<p>

"I still can't believe you decided to go with _Nicholas_," Lysander mumbled while scooping some potatoes onto his plate. "Of all people! Why him?"

Lucy sighed. "I'm not going to repeat myself again." She changed the subject. "What are you three going to do?"

"I have to go see Professor Anderson," Lorcan told Lucy. "I'm falling behind in Transfiguration, so he offered to help."

"Lysander and I are probably just going to wander around in Hogsmeade," Louis said.

Lucy nodded. "Well, I should probably go. It's almost nine." She got up and hurried out of the Great Hall.

"I got to go too," Lorcan added, quickly finishing his food and walking out of the hall. Louis and Lysander exchanged glances.

"We might as well go," Lysander suggested. Louis nodded in agreement.

Ten minutes later, the two of them were walking down the sunny street toward Hogsmeade. Louis couldn't remember a day when the four of them hadn't gone together. It was a strange feeling, sort of like he was leaving behind part of his childhood.

"So where do you want to go?" Louis asked.

"How about Weasleys' Wizard Wheeezes?" Lysander said. A few years ago, the store had opened a new branch in Hogsmeade. It had gotten good business, with all the students buying products from there, but the Hogwarts caretaker was now more and more picky about examining students after they reentered Hogwarts, so they wouldn't bring in love potions or objects like that.

Louis agreed. The two made their way toward the shop. As they entered inside, the bell on top of the door clanged loudly. The store was a rectangular shape; there was a small path from the entrance leading toward the checkout area, and five aisles on each side of the store, branching out from the entrance path. As Louis made his way inside, he spotted Fred and Oliver standing behind the checkout counter, helping sell items. It wasn't a surprise; they had always gone to help during Hogsmeade mornings. He wondered where James was, though.

Lysander walked off toward one side of the store without saying anything to Louis. Louis took that as a sign that Lysander wanted to be alone, so he went in the opposite direction, randomly browsing the shelves for anything good. He spotted a group of his fellow fifth-year Hufflepuffs.

"Hey, Louis!" Eric Davis said. He looked around. "You're here alone?" he asked. "Where'd the rest of your group go?"

Louis shrugged. "Lucy went off with Nicholas Schwab, Lorcan had to catch up on some work, and Lysander… I honestly don't know where he went. He was just here a minute ago."

"Well, he's probably nearby," Eric said.

Louis nodded and said "See you later" before going back toward the other side. He was just about to step on the entrance path when the door clanged open and Lucy and Nicholas entered, laughing about something. Not wanting to act intruding, Louis backed down the aisle until the other two couldn't see him, but he could still see them. As he backed down, he bumped into Lysander.

"There you are," Louis said. "Where'd you go?"

Lysander shrugged. "Just browsing." He lowered his voice. "You saw who just entered the store, right?"

"Yeah," Louis replied. "Why?"

Lysander shrugged again.

Louis then got an idea that only Weasley boys would ever think of. "Why don't we go follow them?" he suggested.

"Who?" Lysander said blankly.

"Lucy and Nicholas," Louis said. When Lysander didn't say anything, Louis sighed. "Come on. It's good practice for following people without them knowing. And besides, we can always stop following them if you want. We're not intruding on anything private. If they really wanted privacy, they wouldn't be staying in the middle of Hogsmeade where everyone can see them."

Louis could see Lysander thinking. He hoped that his friend agreed. Finally, Lysander nodded, albeit a bit hesitantly. "I see no reason why we don't," Lysander said.

"Great!" Louis exclaimed. He walked up toward the entrance and then stopped. "Oh, they're leaving now. Let's go before we lose track of them!"

Louis and Lysander waited for a few seconds and then walked back into High Street, following Lucy and Nicholas from a distance. They were walking side by side, as friends normally did. "I still have a feeling this is wrong," Lysander said.

"Don't be such a spoil-sport," Louis replied. They stayed about a couple of meters behind. "It's just something fun. Now, I'll be quiet so they don't suspect anything."

The two walked in silence along the road until, up ahead, Lucy and Nicholas turned off of the main road into a smaller path. "Oh no," Lysander whispered. "Don't tell me they're going…"

"To the shrieking shack, yep," Louis finished. "No… this means we can't follow them anymore!"

"No—wait," Lysander said, and he ran toward a tree. Louis followed, hiding behind it so they would be out of view. He watched Lucy and Nicholas walk around the shack and disappear from view.

"That's real romantic," Louis commented as Nicholas disappeared. "Doesn't he know that you don't bring girls to dark secluded spots? They like bright areas."

"Not Lucy," Lysander replied. He sighed. "We might as well turn back."

"Wait a second…" Louis said, walking forward.

"What are you doing?"

Louis didn't reply. He walked until he reached the shack, and looked in through a window. "There's something here," he said quietly.

"What?" Lysander whispered, walking forward. Louis pointed toward something on the ground. The Shrieking Shack's only entrance was on the Hogwarts Grounds, near the Whomping willow. There was no entrance in Hogsmeade; you could only observe. But there was something inside.

"Are there… are those bones?" Lysander whispered.

"No," Louis said. There was something that appeared to be long sticks on the ground. "Bones aren't black. I think they're… wands."

"Wands?" Lysander asked. "Why would there be so many wands in the Shrieking Shack? Especially new ones? Because those wands look usable."

Before Louis could answer, he heard a scream coming from the back of the Shrieking Shack. "Lucy!" Lysander exclaimed, and before Louis could stop him, he ran around the shack.

Louis shook his head, annoyed that Lysander gave away the fact that they were following the others, but he walked around the shack too. When he saw the reason why Lucy screamed, though, he stopped. _This is not good._

* * *

><p>James walked down the path toward Hagrid's hut, alone. He'd told Oliver and Fred to go on by themselves to Hogsmeade. He'd chosen to stay at Hogwarts.<p>

He reached Hagrid's hut and knocked three times. Then he waited.

After a few moments, the door opened and Hagrid appeared, big, hairy, but reassuring. "James," Hagrid said. "Come on in. I haven' seen yeh in a while."

James closed the door as he walked in, taking in the cozy scent of Hagrid's hut. Over his seven years of Hogwarts, the Gryffindor common room and Hagrid's hut were the only things that remained the same.

"So," Hagrid said as James sat down on one of the chairs. "What'd yeh come here for? Thought yeh'd be down in Hogsmeade with all yer friends."

James shrugged. "I wasn't in the mood today."

"I'll make a cuppa," Hagrid said, turning toward his kettle and lighting a fire. "So how'd you like seventh year?"

"It's good," James said, looking at the table. "Look, Hagrid, I came today because I need to ask you something."

"Ask away," Hagrid replied, pouring some water into his kettle.

"I want to talk about my father," James said.

Hagrid stopped pouring water. He set the kettle down and walked back toward James. "What d'yeh wanta know?"

James sighed. "I'm just… I'm just really confused now. And you seemed like the best person to talk to. Look." He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and showed it to Hagrid. "He sent me a letter this morning."

Hagrid took it and read it aloud. " 'James,' " he read. " 'How're Albus and Lily? Al sent me a letter sayin' that you've started a new club. Make sure that nobody gets in trouble durin' it. I don't want anyone complainin'.' Is that it?"

James nodded. "That's all he sent me. That's all my letters have been like for the whole school year. It's as if… as if my father doesn't even care about me at all. I know it's silly… I'm seventeen, for Merlin's sake. I shouldn't be caring about my father."

"I've known Harry ever since he was eleven," Hagrid said. "He always had a sort of savin' people thing, if yeh know what I mean. He didn' like other people doin' it for him. He wanted to solve everythin' on his own. Yer father's probably jus' busy right now. He's head auror. I bet he jus' has a big problem that he needs to spend all his time on."

"That's what I thought," James replied. He dug in his pocket and pulled out another letter. "And then I got this."

"What's that?"

"It's a letter from Anton, you know, the Durmstrang champion I met last year. We've been keeping in contact with each other for a while. Anyway, his sister has disappeared and she's been gone for a month already. Anton's really worried. There have been lots of rumors of kidnapping in Norway . Anyway, he asked me if I could go over to his town this winter to help him find his sister."

Hagrid frowned, listening. "His sister's gone? That's not good. But how would you goin' there help him?"

"Well, we've both been in the Triwizard Tournament together," James said. "We know pretty advanced magic and we can cooperate together. Anton said he's found a few clues as to where his sister might be. But he needs my help, if he has even a chance of succeeding."

"But what does yer father have to do with this?"

"He really wants us to go back home for Christmas," James replied. "It's sort of a tradition. You know, every year at the Burrow, we have this huge party with all family and friends there. Except for last year, since the Yule Ball… but he really wants it to occur this year."

"Did'ya tell yer father about going ter your friend's place?" Hagrid asked.

James shook his head. "I know he's going to say no. But… I don't know. I really want to go, not only for myself, but also for Anton. His younger sister is missing. If Lily were gone… I'd be heartbroken."

"Well, James, I dunno what ter tell yeh," Hagrid said. "Yeh just do whateveh yeh want. But don' tell yer father about this conversation, all right?"

"Thanks, Hagrid," James said. "You helped a lot."

Hagrid looked confused. "I didn' say much."

"No, you did, even though you don't know it. Thanks a lot."

He got up and left the hut, feeling as if a weight had been lifted off his chest. He turned to go back toward the castle when he heard somebody call his name.

"Louis?" James asked in confusion, running toward the sound.

It was Louis, with two other boys that James couldn't make out. They were carrying somebody.

"Lucy's hurt!" Louis shouted. "Get help! Anyone!"

James ran back toward Hagrid's hut. "Hagrid! Lucy's hurt!"

Hagrid immediately ran out of his hut and jogged toward the incoming people. "What happened?" he asked.

"I don't know," said a boy that James remembered as attending the Order of the 108 meeting the past week. "We were just talking, behind the Shrieking Shack, when all of a sudden there was a jet of light and then she was screaming. There was blood everywhere, and I didn't know what to do. Luckily Louis and Lysander were there, so we just ran back to your hut as it was the closest place from the Shrieking Shack."

"I'll take her to Madame Pomfrey," Hagrid said, gently picking up Lucy. "You three should probably go to Professor McGonagall. She'll want to know what happened."

James followed along, having nothing to do anyway. Lucy looked so small in Hagrid's arms. It seemed as if whoever cast the spell knew that it would do a lot of damage. It was as if there was an invisible sword stabbed into her chest. Who in the world would do it, though?

Lucy was one of his cousins that he didn't know that well, being the daughter of Percy—who Harry and Ginny preferred not to associate with unless necessary—and two years younger in age. He still felt really worried, though; Lucy might suffer a permanent injury. _What if it was Lily?_ James thought. He would feel even worse. If Lily were hurt, he'd want to kill the person that had done it to her.

Now he knew how Anton felt after his sister disappeared. He must be terribly sad, angry, yet frightened all at the same time.

James made up his mind. He would go to Norway that winter, no matter what his father said. Anton needed him. Katrina needed him.

His father didn't need him.

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><p><strong>I hope you like the twist that I put in this chapter! Comments? And I'm not good at writing Hagrid's accent, so hopefully I didn't make any mistakes. Oh, and the title of the old DA is really bad, I know... But I couldn't think of anything.<strong>

**Happy Thanksgiving (for all of you that live in the USA)!  
><strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thanks to all my readers and reviewers :) Enjoy the chapter.**

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><p>Dominique and Roxanne had to literally push people out of the way in order to follow Molly, who was probably running at 10 miles an hour to get to the Hospital Wing. It was a good thing there weren't too many people around, and the ones that were around were around were mostly first or second years. The three of them plus a few friends had spent the day at Hogsmeade but had gotten back early because Molly said she needed to study. Instead, when they returned to the Gryffindor Common Room, Lily told them that Lucy was hurt. Molly jumped up and high-tailed it out of the common room.<p>

"Wait up!" Dominique cried, panting as she tried to keep up. Molly didn't respond but kept on running.

Roxanne, who was used to running—as she was on the Quidditch team—just shrugged. "You could walk if you want," she said, slowing down. "There's no rush."

The two of them walked toward the Hospital Wing. When they finally got there, Molly had long since disappeared from view. Dominique pulled open the door and walked inside. Molly was crouching around a bed with four other students.

"What happened?" Dominique asked, walking over.

Everyone turned to look at one boy, who Dominique recognized as Nicholas Schwab, having gone to the previous Order of the 108 meeting. "Don't ask me," Nicholas said, shaking his head. "I've repeated myself too many times."

James decided to answer Dominique's question. "Apparently he and Lucy were talking behind the Shrieking Shack," James said. "When all of a sudden there was a jet of light and then Lucy was hurt. There was nobody around except Louis and Lysander, and they obviously didn't do anything… but we don't know where the spell came from."

"Lysander and I saw something in the Shack," Louis spoke up hesitantly. "You know how there are lots of bones in the shack… it looked like there was something else. It looked like there were _wands_."

James looked like he'd been slapped, but he quickly regained his composure. "Well," he said. "That's odd."

"It's probably nothing important," Dominique said, shrugging. "Probably some people just left their wands in the shack."

"Yeah, but who would want to shoot Lucy?" asked Louis. "I mean, she's so nice. Everyone loves her. Who would want to harm her?"

"Maybe… it's not her," James said thoughtfully. "Maybe it's her family. We are a pretty controversial family, after all."

"What do you mean?" Dominique asked. But before anyone could say anything, Madame Pomfrey came out and started shouting.

"Too many visitors! Only 6 are allowed! Out! Out! She needs quiet!"

"We'll go," said Louis, motioning to himself, Lysander, and Nicholas. "We've been here for a while."

Dominique watched them go while Molly turned to Madame Pomfrey. "How's Lucy? Will she be okay?"

"I've never seen this spell before," Madame Pomfrey said. "It looks as if she was stabbed by a knife. But she'll be fine. Cuts are quite easy to heal. She'll be all good by tomorrow."

Molly nodded. "That's good."

"Wait… what do you mean, you've never seen this spell before?" James interrupted. "You mean it's a new one?"

"Somebody must have invented it," Madame Pomfrey replied. "I generally know all the spells that harm people so I can treat each of the victims in a certain way, but this one… wait a second."

"What?"

"You know what, I have seen this spell before!" Madame Pomfrey announced. "It was a long time ago, more than twenty years ago. I had this one patient… I don't remember who it is. My memory's going. But he had the same exact symptoms as Miss Weasley."

"You don't know who it is?" James asked, almost enthusiastically.

Madame Pomfrey shook her head. "I'm getting old."

"Well, from now on, we'll have to make sure to stay away from the Shrieking Shack," Roxanne said. "We can't afford to get more people hurt."

"I'll tell Professor McGonagall to go investigate," Madame Pomrey replied. "If there's somebody in there who's hurting children, he will have to be stopped."

* * *

><p>"Well, this meeting was much better than last week," Rose said as she watched the students pile out of the Room of Requirement. "I can't wait for next week; we should start learning Potions."<p>

"We have to vote on which one first," Scorpius reminded her. "But at least we'll get to start doing something new."

Albus was silent as he listened to his best friends talk about the Order of the 108, but he watched the door at the same time. James and his friends were the last ones to leave the room. Albus quietly walked toward the door, listening to the conversation outside. "You two go first," James was saying. "I'll be down in a few minutes."

"Rose! Scorpius!" Albus said. "Come on!"

"What's the rush?" Rose asked, but Albus was already out the door.

"Come on!" he repeated, and Rose and Scorpius had no choice but to follow. "Stay quiet and follow me," Albus whispered, and went in the direction that James had gone. They stayed behind him but within range of seeing him.

"What are you doing?" Rose asked again, but Albus didn't answer. He was pretty sure he knew where his brother was going, and he didn't like it.

The three fourth-years continued following James as he descended the stairs toward the first floor. "I don't think we should be here," Rose whispered. "It's almost 9; we'll get detention if we're caught."

"Shh!" Albus said, forcefully this time. Rose was being so annoying. Couldn't she see that this wasn't the time for talking?

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Albus saw James walk toward the entrance door. But before he opened it, he took out something from his bag and flung it over himself. Before Albus could tell what it was, James had disappeared.

Albus couldn't restrain himself anymore. "James!" he whispered, but loud enough so that his brother could hear.

Although he couldn't see him, Albus could tell that James had just jumped around in shock. "What are you doing here?" he asked, clearly annoyed.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Albus asked. "Wait... I know what you're doing. You're going to the Shrieking Shack tonight."

"Why would you think that?"

"I have my sources," Albus replied. In truth, he had asked Louis what had happened to Lucy, and he had told him about the Shrieking Shack, but James didn't need to know. As a brother of James, he knew perfectly that he wouldn't be able to resist exploring. "Besides, you're going outside after curfew. You wouldn't be visiting Hagrid or you would have done so before. Where else could you be going?"

James shook his head, but didn't deny Albus's claim. "So what?" he asked. "Why do you care?"

"I'm coming," Albus stated.

James gaped at him. "Why would you come?"

"Because I want to," Albus replied. "Why do _you _have the right to go?"

"Many reasons," James said. "One: I'm the oldest. Two: I have the Invisibility Cloak. Three: I was the first one who even saw Lucy hurt. And four: I think there's something serious going on around the Shrieking Shack; something that might involve me. Those wands are ominous."

"Well, if it's serious, than there's more reason for me to go," Albus said. "Two people are better than one."

"What's going on?" Rose interrupted, walking over with Scorpius. "Why are you going to the Shrieking Shack? And what about wands?"

"You know when Lucy got hurt?" Albus explained. "Well, apparently there were wands in the shack and that's where she was when she got hurt, so James is going off to investigate."

"You're what?" Rose demanded. "You're not allowed to be off grounds."

James scowled. "I honestly don't care. I'm going to go right now, and the three of you can go back and do whatever you want."

"Yeah, well, you're breaking the rules," Rose objected. "If you don't stop, I'll go tell somebody! You're just going to cause Gryffindor to lose more points. I wouldn't mind if you broke the rules for something important, but this is just stilly. The teachers can investigate later!"

"You'd do that?" James asked quietly. "You'd go tattle on me?"

Scorpius, who'd been silent all along, spoke up. "Rose wouldn't do that. But, please, don't go. There's no need."

"Why are you," he directed this question at Albus. "Rose, and Mal—Scorpius even here in the first place?"

"Al followed you," Rose replied. "We didn't have any choice! He forced us!"

"But now that we're here, you can't go to the Shrieking Shack," Albus said. "Or we'll tell."

James sighed. "Why do annoying little brothers and cousins have to ruin everything?"

"Wait…" Albus said, getting an idea. "If you let us go with you to the Shrieking Shack, we won't tell. Promise."

Albus could see his older brother thinking about which possibility was better. Finally, he nodded. "Fine. You can come. But be _silent._"

The three of them nodded. "You two aren't coming!" James protested.

"If Albus goes, we all go," Rose said. "Or we'll tell."

"But you won't fit under the invisibility cloak," James said.

"It doesn't matter," Rose replied. "It's dark. You and Albus should go under, while me and Scorpius will just follow. Nobody will be able to see anyway."

James nodded and held the cloak up so Albus could slip under. They quietly walked out of the castle and toward the Whomping Willow, where the entrance to the Shrieking Shack was located. "What are we supposed to do?" Rose asked.

"Didn't you listen to any of Uncle Ron or Dad's stories about when they went to Hogwarts?" James asked. "You prod the knot on the tree to make it still." James demonstrated, and the tree went still.

"Wow," Scorpius whispered.

James removed the cloak as they entered the tree; there was no need for it since they were inside. The passage was small, and Albus had to crawl to get through. He felt a sense of excitement as they crawled; he usually didn't like getting in trouble, but today was all for a good cause. The teacher's couldn't blame them for trying to find the cause of what hurt Lucy.

In front of Albus, James stopped crawling. "What's up there?" Albus asked.

"There's a room," James said. He got up and walked toward the room. "I think it's the one Louis and Lysander were talking about."

"How do you know?" Albus whispered. He felt as if somebody was watching him, and resigned to talking quietly.

James didn't answer, but quietly entered the room. He picked up something from the floor and examined it. "What?" Albus asked.

"It's a wand," James replied.

Albus entered the room and examined the floor. It was all dusty, but James was right. There were about twenty wands scattered around the floor. And the strangest thing was that the wands appeared new; they still had the shine that appeared when one bought a new wand.

"I really don't think we should be here," said Rose, who had stayed behind in the passageway, not entering the room. "I have a really bad feeling about this."

"Yeah, it does feel a little suspicious," Albus replied. "We should leave. James?" He turned to his brother, who was pocketing a wand.

"What are you doing?" Albus hissed. "Why are you taking that wand away? Whoever lives here is going to know!"

"Whoever lives here shouldn't live here anymore," James replied, not obeying Albus's command. "Let's go."

No matter how hard Albus tried, he couldn't get James to put the wand back. So, the four of them ran back toward the castle. When they finally got inside, they were all panting hard.

"Well," said Rose, regaining her breath. "Did you discover anything?"

James shrugged. "Perhaps. But we should still tell Professor McGonagall."

"That's what I recommended in the first place," Rose said sarcastically. The four of them quietly tiptoed up the stairs and toward the Gryffindor common room.

* * *

><p>As September drew to a close and October began, the weather grew colder and homework increased. Some of the older students were now staying up late at night, but for Lily and her fellow second-years, she didn't have much work to do.<p>

Lily's favorite classes had begun to change from last year's. Previously, she had loved Transfiguration, but her favorite class now become Defense Against the Dark Arts. Their teacher, Professor Kolmer, was quite friendly and taught them really well. Since the Order of the 108 had helped Lily learn new spells, and—according to Rose—since Lily had natural talent, Professor Kolmer constantly told Lily that she was one of the best in her class.

She also loved History of Magic, but for different reasons. Lily's memory wasn't amazing, so on average she only got As on her assignments, but the class itself was so entertaining. The professor was really funny and made History of Magic the one class that Lily looked forward to everyday.

One typical morning, Lily went down to breakfast with her friends. "It's Wednesday, isn't it?" Lily asked, sitting down next to Olivia. "What do we have again?"

"Double Herbology and then History of Magic," Olivia responded.

"Aw, we have to have Herbology," Layla complained, from across Lily's seat.

"But at least we have History of Magic next," Lily pointed out.

"I guess," Layla said.

Lily still didn't understand why Layla hated Herbology; the class itself was really fun. Layla had said that she just felt really awkward sitting in the room with her dad lecturing them on plants, but the subject was still fun. It didn't matter who taught it.

"Good morning, Professor Longbottom," Lily said as she walked into the greenhouse.

"Good morning, Miss Potter," replied Professor Longbottom. "Please pick up a pair of headphones; we're studying mandrakes today."

"I know what Mandrakes are!" Elena exclaimed as she picked up a pair of black headphones and walked over to the spot where the four Gryffindors usually stood. "They're these ugly plant-humans that shriek whenever they're pulled out of the Earth."

"Very good, Miss Mills," Longbottom said. "But you might want to listen later as I give a more, ah, detailed definition of mandrakes."

The four made their way over to their spot. "But Mandrakes are honestly so much fun," Elena said. "We get to force them into pots so they stop screaming."

"Sounds fun," Layla said sarcastically, putting her headphones over her ears.

Two hours later, one hundred mandrakes had been repotted and stored away in the back of the greenhouse. "Great class!" Professor Longbottom said as the tired and dirty Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs made their way out of the greenhouse—the Mandrakes fought as the students tried to stuff them in pots; dirt flew everywhere. "These Mandrakes will now grow even quicker."

As Lily made her way out of the greenhouse, Professor Longbottom stopped her. "Can we talk for a minute?" he asked. "You too, Layla."

Lily and Layla nervously exchanged looks as they followed the professor back into the greenhouse. "What, dad?" Layla asked.

"Since you sound so rushed, I'll make it quick," Professor Longbottom replied. "Anyway, I've just heard from your head of house, Professor Anderson, that you've decided to form a new club. The Order of the 108, if I'm not mistaken?"

"How does he know?" Lily asked.

Professor Longbottom shrugged. "I believe that Rose told him about the club and asked if it was legal before forming it."

"It _is _legal, isn't it?" said Lily. "She said it was."

"It's allowed."

"So why do you want to see us?" Layla demanded.

"I just want to give you some advice," Professor Longbottom. "As a teacher, and as your dad/family-friend. Don't try to over-parade this new club. I mean, sure, it's fun and all, but soon more and more people might want to join. I like the fact that you're learning stuff in your free time, but it's the Room of Requirement that I'm worried about. Most people don't even know it exists. If more people start to learn about your club, they might take advantage of the Room and use it for their own purposes, that might not be so appropriate."

Lily nodded. "We know. Our club is less than thirty people. But why are you telling us? It's Rose you should be talking to; she formed it."

"Well, since you two are in it and you—" he looked at Layla. "Are my daughter I'm telling you. Just don't parade this club. Otherwise, eventually there'll be sign-up lists and slots for when people can use the Room for their own interests."

"That sounds a little extreme," Layla said, but she looked thoughtful.

"Well, it's never bad to think ahead," Professor Longbottom replied. "Just remember what I said, alright? Don't invite everyone you know; only your friends. And repeat this to Rose, okay?"

"Okay," Lily said. "Thank you, Professor."

"You can call me Neville out of class," he replied. "During class, I'm 'Professor' but out of class I'm your friend."

Lily nodded. She knew Neville was just trying to do the best for them.

Since they were talking to Professor Longbottom, Lily and Layla had no time to take a quick shower without being late, but instead headed directly to History of Magic. They were there about five minutes early, but the class was mainly empty, as the Gryffindors were trying to take showers.

"Hello, Professor Watson," Lily said as she and Layla entered the room.

"Hello, Miss Potter and Miss Longbottom," Professor Watson said, not turning from the board. He was always writing on it every time they entered. "Is that dirt I smell?"

"I think so," Layla replied. "We just came from Herbology. We were repotting Mandrakes."

"Do you two think you can be back here in less than ten minutes?" Professor Watons asked.

Lily nodded. "I think so."

"Well, then, off you go," Professor Watson said. "There's no need to have to remain dirty for the rest of my class."

"Thank you so much, Professor!" Lily said as she and Layla ran out of the room and toward the Gryffindor common room. Lily loved Wednesday mornings. The week was halfway over and she had two fun classes with two fun teachers. Wednesdays were amazing.

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><p><strong>Yeah, so I know this chapter wasn't too exciting and it was shorter than the others but I hope you enjoyed it. Please review!<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Wow, it's been 3 weeks, I think? That's the longest time ever between updates for me... but I have good reasons! I was so busy with schoolwork, and I also had a writer's block (which I think is still here right now). Now it's the holidays, so hopefully I'll be able to update shortly, but no guarantees. **

**Thank you all for reviewing! Sorry about the delayed update... I just realized that this story was still in September, so I kind of rushed this chapter to get through all of October. I need to get to December soon! Anyway, enjoy the chapter.**

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><p>During the second week of October, the first Quidditch match of the year was about to occur: Hufflepuff vs. Ravenclaw. Although Gryffindor and Slytherin had a mutual hatred, and Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff usually sided with the Gryffindors, the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were generally friends with each other. So, most people from the other two houses were ambivalent about whom they would support.<p>

The day of the match was a clear and breezy day, perfect for Quidditch. After breakfast, most of the entire school headed down to the Quidditch pitch to watch the game. Lucy, who had been let out of the Hospital Wing about ten days ago, headed down to the pitch with her Gryffindor friends. Nicholas, a Ravenclaw, was going to be playing today, and Lucy had always liked the Ravenclaws in her year, so she decided to support Ravenclaw.

Louis, Lysander, and Lorcan (as the twins' mother was a Ravenclaw) supported Ravenclaw as well, but the rest of the family disagreed. The Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff match was one in which the whole Weasley family had fun making bets as to whom would win.

"It's definitely Hufflepuff," Dominique said during breakfast. The Weasley/Potter clan usually sat together on the long table on Saturday mornings, sometimes with a few friends. "I'll bet any of you ten sickles that Hufflepuff will win."

"Ten sickles? You've got to be more daring than that," Fred replied. "I'll bet you ten _galleons_ that Ravenclaw will win."

"That's a deal," Dominique said. "Anybody else want to bet?"

The rest of the sixth or seventh-years began making random bets. Lucy didn't understand what the fuss was with Quidditch. "Quidditch," she said, rolling her eyes. "It brings about all this annoying inter-house drama and loss of money."

"I know, right?" Rose said from across the table. "You have to admit it's fun to watch, but the fighting that comes with it is annoying."

The match finally began at ten in the morning, on the Quidditch field. The stands were a really odd mixture of colors. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs obviously wore blue and yellow, their Hogwarts colors, respectively, but when it came to the Slytherins and Gryffindors, there was a random mix of colors. It must have been a sight for the actual Quidditch players to see.

Charles Miller, a sixth-year Gryffindor, was commentating. "And now the Quidditch players are coming onto the field!" he announced. "Hufflepuff: Tullet, Fox, Jones, Robinson, Davis, Macmillan, and Jeffers!"

The seven Hufflepuffs walked onto the pitch, punching the fists with their air while the crowd wearing yellow roared their approval. "The Ravenclaws!" Miller shouted over all the noise. "Meyers, Price, Cooper, Thompson, Murphy, Schawb, and Clark!"

"Go Nicholas!" Lucy cheered while, next to her, Lysander glowered, though Lucy didn't see. The Ravenclaws walked toward the middle of the pitch toward the Hufflepuffs.

"Captains, shake hands," Madame Hooch commanded. Hufflepuff captain Tullet shook hands with Ravenclaw captain Meyers. They were both seventh-year chasers.

"Mount your brooms," Madame Hooch said. The two teams both mounted their brooms. Madame Hooch released the quaffle, then the bludgers, and then the snitch, and the players lifted off.

"And it's Tullet with the Quaffle, and he heads toward the Ravenclaw goal posts," commentated Miller. "He passes to Jones, who passes to Robinson. Robinson aims for the middle post… can Ravenclaw keeper Schwab save it? He dives and… he misses. Hufflepuff scores!"

The Hufflepuffs screamed in delight, while Nicholas flew around the hoops with his head down. However, the Quaffle flew toward Ravenclaw Captain Meyers. "He passes to Price," shouted Miller. "Who passes to Cooper who passes back to Meyers. He shoots, the keeper misses, and Ravenclaw scores!"

All the Ravenclaw supporters cheered. For the next hour, the Quaffle kept alternating from Hufflepuff to Ravenclaw. It was a close match, but eventually Ravenclaw Seeker Hannah Clark—a small fifth year—managed to catch the Quaffle, making the game 310-170.

Lucy could hear Fred walking off toward Dominique to demand his ten galleons. Lucy didn't really care about the whole winning aspect, but she was happy for all her Ravenclaw friends. She made her way down to the bottom of the pitch and found who she was looking for. "Congratulations!" she said to Nicholas, who was heading toward the changing rooms.

"Thanks," he replied. "This game wasn't that good. I let in a lot of points—it's only thanks to Hannah that we won the game."

"Well, you won, so it's all that matters," Lucy said.

Nicholas shrugged. "Well, I've got to take a shower, so see you later."

"See you," Lucy said, turning back toward the Quidditch pitch where her whole family was talking about the game.

"Hey, we made a deal!" Fred was saying to Dominique. "Give me the money!"

"Yeah, well, the problem is I don't _have_ ten galleons with me now," Dominique replied. "I'll give it to you tomorrow, okay?"

"But if you don't give it now, you're never going to give it!" Fred said loudly.

Lucy just shook her head as she walked past. She spotted Louis, and she was about to walk over, but she stopped when she saw him talking to Hannah Clark, the Ravenclaw seeker. Hannah was one of Lucy's best girl friends; she didn't talk to her that often, but they sometimes studied together or talked about stuff only girls talked about together. Hannah had confessed to Lucy that she fancied Louis, and, from what Lucy guessed, she could tell that Louis enjoyed talking to her too.

Lucy decided to give Louis some privacy, so she walked over to Lysander instead. He was sitting on the steps by himself. "Hey," Lucy said, sitting down next to him. "What's the matter?"

"I'm just tired," he replied. "Nothing else."

"Oh."

The two of them sat there in silence for a while. The Quidditch pitch slowly emptied, but the two of the still sat there. Then Lucy spoke up. "Lysander, remember what happened at the Shrieking Shack?"

He nodded.

"Yeah, well, did you hear any news on whether the teachers had found anything mysterious over there?"

Lysander shook his head.

Lucy sighed. Lysander didn't seem very talkative today. "Well, I'm going inside."

Lysander stood up too. The two of them walked back to the castle.

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><p>Fred didn't understand what was happening, but James seemed to be acting stranger and stranger every morning. A week ago, for example, Fred woke up at 3 am to go to the bathroom. When he walked over to the bathroom, the door was locked, though. He knocked and heard a rustling and James' voice calling out "one minute." James quickly walked out of the bathroom, but he looked as if he was hiding something.<p>

Other people had been telling him the same things. "He didn't even do anything on our Potions project," Oliver had told him. They had all been assigned partners to make a Potion. James, unlike his normal assiduous attitude, barely did any work. The same thing happened in Quidditch; they hadn't had a practice for a week. James didn't even show up for the last two Order of the 108 meetings.

"What's going on?" Fred asked as he walked into the dormitories and James, who was sitting on his bed, jumped and hid something under his blankets. It was a Saturday afternoon, one week after the Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw Quidditch match. Fred and Oliver had been playing Wizard's Chess in the common room but Oliver had to leave for head duties. Fred, who was curious where James was, decided to search the dormitories; sure enough, James was there.

"Nothing," James said defensively.

"Why are you acting so weird?" Fred asked. "You haven't had a Quidditch practice for a week, you've been getting poor grades on all your assignments, you don't even talk to Oliver and I anymore. What's up?"

"I told you—nothing," James said again. "It's none of your business."

"Come on, James," Fred said. "Oliver and I are your best friends. He'd be here too but he has Head Boy duties. You're acting so weird! What happened? Is it a girl? Because we both have experience with that. Or what else?"

"It's not a girl," James replied. "It's none of your business."

Fred sighed. "Fine then." He turned as if to leave, but under his breath, he whispered "Accio." An object flew out from behind him and Fred turned to catch it.

"What's this?" he asked, looking at what was in his hand—a wand.

"Give it back!" James said, standing up with an angry look in his face. He must have cast a silent summoning charm, because the wand flew back toward him.

"What is that?" Fred asked again.  
>James sank back on his bed. "Well, now you know," he said. He didn't sound angry; he seemed a bit <em>sad.<em>

Fred nervously walked toward James's bed and sat down; he didn't want his best friend to start shouting. He waited for James to say something on his own.

"Remember about a month ago I told you and Oliver to go back first after the Order of the 108 metting?" James said. "Well, I went towards the Whomping Willow. You know there's an entrance to the Shrieking Shack there. I was curious about why Lucy got hurt. So I went to search. And I found this wand—there were actually many more wands than this, but I took this one. And I've basically been examining the whole time."

"And have you found anything special?" Fred asked.

James nodded. "I used Priori Incantatum. This wand is old. It's been around for about 50 years. It has a huge history."

"Well, it's been in the Whomping Willow, so obviously it's old," Fred said.

"Yeah, but some of the more recent spells are really bad," James said. "Somebody used Crucio with this. I bet—_I bet_—that if we go back, I'll find a wand with the spell that they used on Lucy."

Fred remained silent. So this was what James was doing all day long? Finding the history of wands? "Well, you'll have to find the person who used the spell first," Fred said. "The wand itself won't work."

James nodded. "I'm working on it."

"So this is what you wouldn't tell us about all along?" Fred asked. "This is why you've been acting so weird?"

"Well, not only this," James said. "I mean, I'm going to Norway this winter and I didn't tell my dad so obviously I have to—what?"

Fred was gaping in surprise. "You're going WHERE?"

"Norway." James repeated slowly. "To visit Anton. He says that he thinks there's a way that he could save his sister, but he needs me to help."

"But what about your parents?" Fred asked. "They're planning this huge party! They'll get so angry when they hear you're not coming!"

"Well, now you know why I'm often distracted," James said, twiddling his thumbs.

"Are you ever going to tell them?"

James shrugged. "I don't know."

"I wonder what they'll say when you don't show up," Fred said. "Oh, they'll be mad." He stood up. "Well, have fun examining that wand."

"Don't tell anyone," James said with a nervous expression on his face.

"Not even Oliver?" Fred questioned.

"I'd rather tell him personally," James replied.

Fred nodded. "I understand… I won't tell."

He walked back downstairs toward the common room and slouched down on a couch. James was still strange, but now that he knew the reason why his best friend was acting this way, he felt better about it.

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><p>It was Halloween. The Great Hall was beautifully decorated, with lights that gleamed an orange color. The feast that night was even better. There was so much food that everybody ate at least 3 servings.<p>

"I hope you've all had a wonderful evening," Professor McGonagall said as soon as everybody finished eating and the plates cleared. Hugo, who had been talking to Connor, stopped talking and turned toward the Headmistress. All the other students quieted down too.

"I know normally I don't make any announcements during Halloween," McGonagall continued. "But this involves all of you." She paused and stared around the room. "We will be suspending Hogsmeade visits for the rest of the year."

Throughout the hall, there were sighs of annoyance or complaints. "What's the big deal about Hogsmeade?" Connor asked Hugo. Second-years weren't allowed to go to Hogsmeade.

Lily, sitting across the table, answered for him. "Apparently it's really fun," she said. "There are all these places you can go to buy stuff, and they have Butterbeer, the best drink ever."

"Oh."

McGonagall was talking again. "We have a reason for discontinuing Hogsmeade visits," she said. "A month ago, one of our students was severely hurt while she was in Hogmseade." Hugo turned around and stared at Lucy, who he knew was the student McGonagall was referring to. Lucy didn't say anything, but continued staring at the headmistress. "The reason it took us a month to make this decision," she said. "Is partly because today was a special occasion where you would all be present. But also, because we had to investigate the cause of why she was hurt."

"Anyway," she said. "To make a long story short, we have decided that it's simply too dangerous for students to be allowed to go to Hogsmeade right now. The situation, however, should be resolved in a few months, and then you all will be free to go out again."

Professor McGonagall sat down, but the crowd started buzzing again. "What do you think she means?" Hugo asked his friends.

Lily shrugged. "Nobody ever told us how Lucy got hurt."

"I heard that the ghost of the Shrieking Shack attacked her," Elena said. "You know, the Shack is haunted."

A few seats away, Hugo's older sister was talking with a few of her friends. Hugo made eye contact with Rose. She mouthed a few words, "I'll tell you later."

After the feast, Hugo and Connor were almost out of the hall when Hugo pretended that he had left something behind. He went back into the hall and found his sister. "What?" he asked Rose.

"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation," Rose said. "About how apparently a ghost in the shrieking shack attacked Lucy?"

"Nobody really believes that," Hugo replied. "But what really happened? Do you know?"

Rose nodded. "I actually do. Do you want to know?"

"Of course!" Hugo said eagerly. "Please tell!"

"Alright," Rose replied. "I'm only telling you because you're my brother and I don't want you to start spreading false rumors about what happened."

"Okay," Hugo said. "So what happened?"  
>Rose told him about the night when she had gone to the Whomping Willow. Hugo's eyes grew wide as he listened. "No way!"<p>

Rose shrugged. "Yes way. So I guess the reason they decided to stop Hogsmeade visits is because the teachers found something in the Shrieking Shack. They probably used Priori Incantatum on the wands and found out that one of them cast the spell that harmed Lucy. But they'll find the person who cast the spell soon, and then Hogsmeade visits will be reopened."

"Where do you find all this information from?" Hugo asked in shock. "Nobody told me!"

Rose smiled. "Seniority, Hugo. Besides, you get more connections as you grow older."

Hugo turned to go find his friends, but his sister called after him, "Don't forget, there's a meeting in ten minutes!"

"I know!" Hugo said. Rose was referring to the Order of the 108 meeting; they had them every Sunday, and as today was a Sunday, there was obviously one. Hugo walked up toward the seventh floor and entered the room of requirement, where Connor was.

"Did you get it?" Connor asked.

"Yep," Hugo replied. He didn't know why, but he didn't feel like telling his best friend about what Rose had told him. He felt it should just stay a family secret.

Ten minutes later, everybody who was part of the club had arrived. "So what are we starting today?" Fred asked.

"Well, the younger group just finished Stunning," Rose said. "And the rest of us finished the Conjunctivitus curse. I was thinking that we should take a break from defense spells and do something new."

"That's a good idea," said James. "So what do you all want to do? Potions? Patronuses?"

"Let's vote on it," Rose suggested. "Is there anything else you want to learn?"

"How about random jinxes and hexes?" Lily spoke up.

"Alright," Rose said. "Anything else?"

A few more people suggested some ideas, and then they voted. Hugo voted for random jinxes and hexes; he'd been given a book for his eleventh birthday and some of them had seemed really cool. Unfortunately, he didn't have the skill to perform them yet.

Random jinxes and hexes didn't win, though. Most people voted for Patronuses. "We can do the other stuff in a few weeks," James said, when a few people looked upset. "But we'll learn Patronuses now. Does anyone actually know how to cast a Patronus?"

"I think you're the only one, James," Fred said, leaning back in his chair.

"You know how to cast one?" asked Nicholas in awe.

James shrugged. "My dad taught me a few years ago. It's not that bad. It's really cool when you actually do it. The incantation is quite simple: Expecto Patronum."

"Expecto Patronum," everyone repeated.

"Right," James said. "But you need to focus on something happy. Something that makes you really happy; the stronger, the better. You're fighting off a dementor, something that makes you scared, so obviously happy things are good. Does anybody have any ideas?"

"Getting together with somebody you like?" Fred suggested. Everybody laughed.

"That would work," James said. "I'll tell you what mine usually are. It's usually just winning the Quidditch cup, or, at least for last year, winning the Triwizard Tournament. It doesn't need to be something you want, though. Actually, it's better to focus on a time when you were happy, as then your happiness will be more real. For example, focus on a good time in the past. I'll show you all if you want."

James took out his wand and firmly stated, "Expecto Patronum." A silver wisp shot out of James's wand and quickly fade. "Sorry," he said. "That was bad." He closed his eyes and said the incantation again. This time, a stag flew out and pranced around the room.

"Whoa," Hugo whispered, staring at the stag. James put his wand down and the stag faded.

"It's a really hard spell," James told everyone. "I can't even master it completely—you saw it took me two tries. But when you can, it's really cool. The animal that comes out represents you. Well, go off and try it, then."

Hugo eagerly took out his wand. "Expecto Patronum," he announced, thinking of the time in which he, Rose, and his parents had gone on a vacation to France and had a great time together. Nothing happened.

On his right, Connor wasn't getting anything either. "Expecto Patronum," he kept on repeating over and over. On the fifth time, something silvery shot out of his wand. "Did you see that?" he said eagerly. "That was something!"

Hugo wasn't paying attention. Nearby, Lily was closing her eyes and slowly saying the incantation. As she opened her eyes, a silvery streak came out and drifted around her. Slowly, it settled into a shape. It looked like… a rabbit?

"Wow," James said, turning in his walk around the room to watch Lily's patronus. "Producing a corporeal patronus on your first time is really good."

"It's so pretty," Lily said, waving her wand as her rabbit followed her.

"A rabbit," James repeated, staring at the rabbit bouncing around. "That's a nice patronus."

"Isn't that the same one that Luna has?" Lily asked.

James nodded. "I think so."

"Do similar patronuses mean anything?"

James shrugged. "I don't know."

"Grr, how can you do that so easily?" Hugo asked, frustrated. "I still can't produce anything."

"It takes a lot of time," James said. "Don't expect to do it right away, especially because you're still young. I don't know _how _Lily managed to get one so fast…"

Lily shrugged. "I'm going to see how everyone else is doing."

Hugo knew he should practice, but he couldn't help but watch everyone else's patronuses. Fred had produced his Patronus, a lion, which was sitting down next to him. "Nice Patronus," James said, walking toward Fred.

"I think it suits me perfectly," Fred said, staring at his lion, which was now yawning. Hugo grinned, and walked around more. Rose and Albus were still trying to get Patronuses. "Expecto Patronum," Rose said firmly. "Expecto Patronum." Finally, an eagle flew out of her wand and soared around her. "Wow," Rose said quietly. "That's beautiful."

A second later, Albus managed to produce a Patronus too. His, a horse, pranced around the room. "Just like Mum's," James said, who was observing.

Scorpius, who was standing next to the two of them, was still struggling. "I can't get it," he said.

"Don't worry," Rose told him. "It's a difficult spell."

"But you two got it," Scorpius said. "I'll get it soon…"

Hugo walked back toward his originally spot, where Lily was trying to help Connor get a patronus, but to no avail. "Any luck?" he asked Layla, who was nearby.

She shook her head. "Nope."

"Aw. Well, I couldn't get it either. All these Patronuses are so nice, though…"

Layla nodded in agreement. "Well, we'll have more time to practice next week."

For the rest of the time, Hugo didn't even bother practicing, but continued observing other people. Lucy had managed to produce an owl, while Louis had produced something that nobody could distinguish. "I think it's a baboon," Hugo said, looking at the silvery wisp that was bouncing around.

"Nah, it's a monkey," Louis said. "I think."

Five minutes later, the meeting disbanded. "See you all next week!" Rose said, as everyone left the room.

"That was a great meeting," Hugo said. "I only wish I could have gotten a Patronus."

"Well, you barely practiced at all," Lily replied. "You were looking at everyone else's the whole time."

"You got yours right away!"

"That's because I practiced!"

They argued all the way back. Behind them, Hugo could hear Connor say, with a sigh, "Cousin rivalry."

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><p><strong>I feel like this chapter was a bit boring... what do you all think? The last part was fun to write, though! So this chapter was basically a filler, as I said before, to get to December soon, but I had to include McGonagall's speech somewhere so you all know what's happening. <strong>

**Anyway, please review? I WILL update quite soon, as it's the holidays, and I'll have a lot of free time! Happy holidays to all of you!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: hello everyone and happy new year (even though it's a bit late). Anyway, this chapter is the last of the fillers — yeah, I know, fillers are boring... but this one spans one whole month. I promise the next chapter will be really exciting!**

**Sorry about updating a bit late... the new year brings about a lot of work, and midterms are next week.  
><strong>

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><p>Roxanne hurried outside. The rain was pouring down, and every now and then the sky would light up, followed by a roar of thunder. She ran toward the changing rooms and closed the door behind her, shielding her from the rain.<p>

"You're late," James said, turning to stare at Roxanne walking in through the door. He was addressing all the members of the team, who were already changed and gathering in a circle.

"Sorry," Roxanne said. "I had to ask Professor Anderson a question and then the rain delayed me getting out here. By the way, James, why are we playing in this weather again?"

"Yeah, I was wondering that," Fred said.

"Chances are that we'll have to play Slytherin in these conditions," James replied. "Our game is in two weeks" it was November 15th "and the weather isn't improving."

Roxanne just shook her head and walked toward the girls' locker rooms. She quickly changed into Quidditch robes, but by the time she was finished, all the players had already gone, except for James.

"What?" she asked when James stood up.

"Just don't be late again," he replied, and then walked out of the changing rooms into the pitch. Roxanne grabbed her broomstick and walked out too. Sometimes she wished James would go back to the way he was a few weeks ago, when he hadn't scheduled any Quidditch practices in three weeks. Now, he was scheduling them every night.

Ten minutes later, all of them were on the pitch. The sky was still pouring with rain, but James refused to let them stop practicing. He had let a Quaffle out and told all of them to stay in a circle and pass the Quaffle around. Unfortunately, probably because of weather-related causes, the ball never went from one person to another two times in a row before the Quaffle would fall down.

"This isn't working," Albus said when Scarlett Lestrade, the keeper, accidentally sent the Quaffle ten feet away from him. He dived to catch the Quaffle and threw it hard at James. "Can we just call it a day?"

"Ten more minutes," James said, not admitting defeat, and threw it back toward Albus who missed again.

The next ten minutes were not fun, and all of the players vented their anger by waywardly throwing the Quaffle at James. Finally, James let them go, and they all trooped back toward the changing rooms. Roxanne heard Andrew Stein (a chaser) and Peter Gladwell (a beater) mutter angrily about something. Scarlett walked beside Roxanne, but the two of them didn't talk; they just ran toward the locker rooms.

Once they got inside, Roxanne threw her broom against the wall and quickly grabbed her day robes. "I'm just going back to the castle to take a shower," she said. "I don't want to change when I'm all wet."

Scarlett nodded in agreement. "Good idea."

The two of them quickly walked back toward the castle, taking the shortest path, the one that led through the center of the grass. They were almost out of the grass when Roxanne stopped in her tracks, taking out her wand. "Lumos," she whispered, pointing it toward her left.

"What is it?" Scarlett asked, craning her neck toward where Roxanne was pointing.

"I thought I saw something," Roxanne said, but she whispered "Nox" and the light went out. "But there's nothing there. I must have been mistaken."

"Keep the light on, though," Scarlett said, taking out her own wand and whispering Lumos. They walked on towards the castle, which was only a few meters away. Roxanne could have sworn she had seen someone on her left staring at her, but there wasn't anything there. She shook her head, and walked into the castle. She must have been hallucinating.

* * *

><p>Rose closed<em> The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, <em>yawning. It was 10 pm, and she had finished her homework a while ago, but she stayed in the common room reading one of her favorite Muggle books. In her opinion, Muggle writers were much better than wizard ones, especially when it came to mystery, which she loved. She hated those romance books where the witch and wizard happily ended together.

"Are you done yet?" she asked Albus, who was scribbling something on a piece of parchment. Albus had forced Rose to stay in the common room while he and Scorpius finished their homework.

"Almost," Albus replied. "I just need three more inches."

"That's good," Rose said, peering over Albus's shoulder to see what he was writing. "What about you, Scorpius?"

"I finished a while ago," Scorpius replied. He was sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch that Rose and Albus were sitting on.

"So what are you doing now?"

"I'm writing a letter to my mum," Scorpius answered.

"Oh." Rose had never met Scorpius's mother before, but from what he said about her, she was much nicer than her father. "How do you take so long to do work?" she asked Albus. She, Albus, and Scorpius were probably the best students in their year, and Albus usually didn't leave his homework this late.

"James," Albus muttered angrily. "Continuous Quidditch practice. It takes away two hours of my day."

"Shut up about Quidditch," Rose said to Albus, looking in Scorpius's direction. He hadn't been too pleased when he didn't get onto the Quidditch team, and every time Albus mentioned that he had to go to Quidditch practice, Scorpius would make a face.

"It's fine," Scorpius said. "I don't care. Albus is a better seeker than me. Besides, I was thinking about trying out for Beater next year instead. Fred's leaving, so we'll need a new Beater. Besides, it doesn't seem that hard, and at least I'll have something to do related to Quidditch. I'll never be able to be Seeker, since Albus will always be here too."

"Yeah, he's fine with it," Albus said. "We talked about it after the tryouts. There aren't any harsh feelings."

"I only get annoyed since I wish I could be on a team and play with other people," Scorpius explained. "I'm not mad at Albus. Just at the whole team."

Rose nodded. "Well, Albus, if you don't finish soon, I'm going up first."

"I'm almost done!" Albus protested. "Wait five minutes!"

Rose drummed her fingers on the arm of the couch. "Alright." She looked around the common room, where other people were getting ready to go to bed. James, Fred, and Oliver were sitting in a corner, talking in low voices. "I wonder what they're talking about," Rose said in a low voice.

Scorpius looked up. "Speaking of James," he said. "What's up with him?"

"What do you mean?" Rose asked.

He shrugged. "I dunno. I heard that he's acting all odd lately."

News spread quickly these days. "Nobody ever told me anything," Rose said. She looked back at James when, to her surprise, James stood up and walked over. "What?"

"Grandma Molly sent us a letter," James told Rose, holding a piece of parchment in his hand. "About Christmas break. She just wants to know if you're coming home or not."

"Like she would let us not come home," Albus said, reaching a hand for the letter James held. "Can I see that?"

James pulled his hand away. "No. Just tell me if you're bringing anyway home."

"I dunno," Albus said, looking over at Scorpius. "Are you going home?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Mum wants me home this Christmas. She said that Dad's having a big business party and he wants me to show up." He didn't sound too excited.

"Sounds fun," Albus said. "So I guess it's just me and Rose."

"D'you know who else is coming?" Rose asked. "Are you bringing anyone?"

James evaded her question and walked away.

Rose watched him walk back toward Oliver and Fred. "You know, Scorpius, you're right," she said. "James is acting odd."

"Do you think…" Scorpius began, lowering his voice. "It has anything to do with the Shrieking Shack?"

Rose shrugged. "Maybe. I just hope the teachers quickly find whoever hurt Lucy, so there can be Hogsmeade trips again. I miss them."

"Yeah, the first one was fun."

Albus folded up his parchment and put down his quill. "Done," he said.

"Finally," Rose said in relief, standing up and preparing to go to the dormitories. "If you take this long tomorrow, I'm not waiting for you again."

"Tomorrow James isn't planning any Quidditch practices," Albus replied. "So I'll be done earlier."

"See you tomorrow, then," Rose said, walking over to the staircase that led up toward the girls' dormitories. She walked past the first and second years' dormitories, accidentally bumping into a tired-looking Lily, and toward her own dormitory.

Rachel and Emma, Rose's fellow fourth-year Gryffindors, were both still awake, sitting in their beds reading books. "Hi Rose," Rachel said, looking up from her book as Rose entered.

"Hi," Rose said, walking toward her bed. "What are you reading?"

"_Pride and Prejudice,_" Rachel responded, showing Rose the cover. "It's a Muggle book, so you probably haven't heard of it, but it's really good."

"Actually, I have heard of it," Rose said, grabbing her pajamas out from under her blankets. "It is really good. I didn't know you like reading Muggle books." Now that she thought about it, Rose barely knew anything about Rachel or Emma.

Rachel shrugged. Rose headed toward the bathroom and quickly brushed her teeth and changed into her night clothes. By the time she came out, the dormitory was all dark. Rose smiled and settled into her bed and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

><p>The Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match was short and sweet. After ten minutes of Gryffindor chasers letting in goal after goal, Albus Potter caught the Snitch from right under the Slytherin Seeker's nose, making the final score 220-30.<p>

The Gryffindors stayed gleeful for a few days after the match, into the first few weeks of December. All the players who had been complaining about James's constant Quidditch practices had now stopped complaining, knowning that their training had been for a good purpose.

About a week after the match, midway through December, James headed down to breakfast. An owl clutching a big red envelope flew towards the Hufflepuff table. The owl landed in front of a sixth-year student named Evan Rosenberg, who clutched the Howler and ran out of the Great Hall. Nevertheless, everyone could still hear the shouts of his mother, screaming, "WHAT A DISGRACE YOU ARE TO THE FAMILY!"

"Poor kid," James said, nibbling a piece of bacon while listening to the screams fade. "I wonder what he did that deserves this much shouting."

"He probably just failed an assignment or something like that," Fred replied. "Some parents are crazy like that."

James laughed in agreement, but at the same time he felt a sense of dread in his stomach. What if his mother sent him a Howler when she found at that he planned to go to Norway during the winter holidays?

"She won't find out," Fred said, as if reading James's mind. "She'll just get mad at you over the break, when there's nobody around to be embarrassed with. Besides, Aunt Ginny's cool. She doesn't have a temper."

James shook his head. "Are you kidding? Have you ever seen one of her Bat-Bogey hexes? They made her famous when she was little."

"Who's good at casting Bat-Bogey hexes?" The question came from Oliver, who had just arrived at breakfast and sat down across from James and Fred.

"James's mum," Fred replied. "But why are you here? I thought you were with Maeve?"

Oliver shrugged. He and Maeve, both head students, had gotten together at the beginning of October and often spent their time together. "I dunno. But anyway, what where you talking about?"

Fred turned to look at James with an inquisitive expression on his face, almost as if to say, _Did you tell him?_ James sighed, and turned to Oliver. "I didn't tell you about Norway, did I?"

"No…" said Oliver slowly. "What happened in Norway?" He turned to Fred. "Do you know about whatever this is?"

Fred nodded. "But I think James should tell you himself."

James sighed. He did not want his best friend to start getting annoyed with him, not on top of everything else he had to cope with—the whole Norway trip, his parents' responses, homework (there was a lot during NEWT year), the Shrieking Shack and the wand, etc. "OK, Oliver, you deserve the truth. How do I explain this? Er…" James dug into his bag and pulled out a crumpled sheet of paper. It was one of his letters from Anton. "Read." He gave it to Oliver.

Oliver took the paper and started reading it, his expression difficult to read. When he finished, he put it down on the table and said simply, "You're going to Norway to help Karina."

James nodded. "Yep."

"Wow," Oliver said. "You're going there and you never told me? Did you tell anyone, even your parents?"

"I told Hagrid—don't get angry with me, Oliver," James quickly said. "You've been off with Maeve the whole time, so I didn't exactly have time."

"I'm not angry," Oliver insisted. "I'm just a little confused, that's all. I think I need a bit more than just a letter to exactly understand."

"I'm confused too," James said. "Ever since last year, my life has been completely confusing. I _still _don't know what happened to Guillory, whether Malfoy was lying, or who hurt Lucy. I'm hoping going to Norway this year will let me begin to find the answer to some of the questions I have."

"Or it might just bring up even more questions," Oliver said, taking an apple from the table and biting into it.

"No, I'm pretty sure everything's related," James replied. "Everything is connected. It's strange."

"Huh." Oliver put down his apple and took a piece of toast. He was a light breakfast eater. "Well, the only problem is how you're going to tell your parents about this. They won't let you go."

"Anton never told me exactly how long I should stay," James said. "I'll probably stay in Norway right after this term, and come home a few days before Christmas. That way I'll be with the family over Christmas."

Oliver took a bite of his piece of toast and shrugged. "That might work."

James stared at his friend in confusion about his lack of emotion. Fred broke the silence by asking, "So where are you going this Christmas?"

"Maeve invited me to her parents for a few days," Oliver replied. "Then I guess I'll go back home to my parents for Christmas, unless…" He shrugged.

"Unless we invite you over?" Fred completed Oliver's statement. "It's been sort of a tradition for us to have a big New Years' Party with all our friends, so you can come for that if you want."

"Thanks," Oliver said. "I'll see if my parents let me come."

The three of them quickly finished up their meal and headed toward first period, Charms. James thought about the two-week long holiday that was approaching, but couldn't help but smile. He looked forward to seeing Anton again and helping him find his little sister.

* * *

><p>"Homework!" Professor Kolmer, the DADA professor announced, much to the dismay of all the students. "Write an essay on the differences between Hexes and Jinxes, and give two examples of each."<p>

Most of the students groaned, but Lily eagerly jotted the assignment down in her assignment pad. "What?" she asked when Hugo looked at her questioningly. "It's just a short assignment. It shouldn't be that hard."

"You're probably the only student in the whole school that _wants_ to do homework over the break," Hugo said. "Everyone else just wants to relax and have fun."

Lily shrugged. It was the last day before Christmas holidays, when most of the students would leave the school to go home with their parents. Lily didn't likedoing homework, but she was just glad that the assignment was short.

"Come on, Lily, let's go," Layla said, waiting by the door for her best friend. They had one more class, Potions, before they would pack and get ready to leave the school.

"I'm coming," Lily said, running over to the door. The two of them walked down the long hallways of the castle toward the dungeons. "I can't wait for this period to be over," Lily said as they walked down the stairs. "I get to see my parents and Teddy again. I haven't seen them in ages."

Teddy was like a brother to Lily, as he had always been around for dinner when Lily was growing up. "There's only an hour left," Layla replied.

"I wish you could come," Lily said to her friend. Layla was staying at Hogwarts over the break, as her father had to stay with the other children. A few of Lily's other friends were staying too, so Layla would have company, but she wished Layla could leave.

"Me too," Layla responded. "That's one of the times when I hate my father's job."

They arrived at the Potions room. Professor Collins and about half of the students were already there. The Gryffindors had Potions with the Slytherins, who had just had a free period, so they were already there.

Lily sat down at her usual seat, in the second row towards the front. She took out her cauldron and waited while the Gryffindors arrived.

Soon, all of them arrived and the lesson started. Since it was the last class before break, they didn't make any new potions today; they just reviewed old ones. Lily wasn't paying that much attention during class; she just wanted the class to end so she could go home.

After what seemed an eternity, the bell rang and the students were dismissed. "Let's go!" Lily said, dragging her friend toward the exit. The two of them headed to the Gryffindor common rooms, where Lily picked up her trunk from underneath her bed.

"Well, have fun," Lily said, as Layla would be staying in Hogwarts while she would go home. "See you next year."

Layla nodded. "You too."

Lily raced toward the room next door, where the fourth years slept. "Rose!" she shouted. "Are you ready?"

The door opened and Rose appeared, looking ready to go. "Yep," she replied, taking one last look around her dormitories. "There's no rush, though. It's not like the train's going to leave earlier."

Lily shrugged. "Well, let's go!"

The two of them headed down towards the common room where the rest of the Potter/Weasley family was waiting. Hugo was talking to his best friend, Connor, while some of Lily's older cousins were simply sitting there, waiting. "Hi Lily," Hugo said as Lily approached him. "Ready to go?"

"Definitely," she said. Christmas and New Year were coming. And the Holiday Season was always the best time of the year.

* * *

><p><strong>I know not that there isn't much exciting stuff in this chapter, but I promise the next one will have a lot of surprises! Please read and review? I'll try to get a new chapter up before the end of February!<strong>


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